Tales of Alchemia
by Steamrollers Solve All
Summary: My first, very crappy OC-filled fic based off a gamefaqs "Create a character" threat. Again, very crappy... but I'm keeping it up here simply because it's the first story I saw to the end. So sue me.
1. The Cast and Crew of our show

Since this story mainly uses characters created by friends on I've decided to give a list of the cast. Feel free to look through it.

**Blade Longfellow**: A member of the Sacred Order of Oracles in another dimension. She decided to go undercover to investigate another group called the "Travelling Sword-Mages." She doesn't know how she got to Tethe'Alla. Like all Oracles, she is undead so to see the future, but she's not had much success with foresight. Not to long ago, she succeeded in sealing one of the Elementas of Ruin, Infernia, into herself with her magic "Dracostaff"

**Infernia**: One of the four Elementas of Ruin, Infernia is now bound to the person that sealed her. Since then, the goddess has mellowed out a bit, holding a smaller amount of resent for Blade and more towards people trying to kill her. Her power has been added to Blade's, but some of it is still undiscovered, like Infernia's Rising Fire and Falling Fire magic spells.

**Vulcan**: Vulcan is a Weapon Hunter. Essentially, he tracks down demons that go into hiding and kills them. To aid him, he has a powerful "Orbus" bestowing him with Vampyric powers, allowing him to power his sword up with blood of his victems.

**Alran Gavel**: When on a date with his girlfriend, Alran had forgotten to get her a present. Alran made it up by finding a valuable pocket watch, but when she was killed by a Weapon attack before he returned. It was then that Alran swore that he'd hunt down Weapons everywhere, using the pocket watch-which is used like a ball and chain-as a reminder of the person he let down. Attached to his pocket-watch is an orbus, but unlike Vulcan's, this one allows him to put people in hypnotic transes.

**Maple**: A member of the ancient human race of Hoheinerian, Maple is charged with protecting her forest above all else. Like all Hoheinerians, Maple can communicate with wolves, and she fights to protect her forest from lumberjacks. When the government forbade anyone, even Hoheinerians, to step into the rainforest, Maple set off on a journey with her wolf Vorax. With her orbus (which allows her to break down complications in communication) and her trusty knife, she's not going back without her duty done.

**Thanatos Aurion**: If there was a dividing factor between Kratos and Thanatos, it's that one is a cruel bastard and the other has a son. Thanatos, only barely missing the title of Seraphim, is deterimined to find power no matter where it is. His power exceeds that of Kratos, and many other people in Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant. His "True Flamberge" is rumored to be the one that banned Satan to the underworld.

**Dave Chryl**: Little is known about David Chryl. The brown eyed, brown haired, black clothed man loves fighting and killing. One of the only things known for sure is that Chryl does know Necromantic abilities.

**Ivory Noir**: The Necromantic powers of Ivory Noir put Chryl's to shame. The girl one day discovered that her right arm had turned into that of a skeleton's. She uses weapons to manipulate her necromantic abilities and despises joy and happiness.

**Reagan**: Like many half-elves, Reagan holds a hatred towards humans. At least in her case the hatred is reasonable. Not long after she was born, her elf mother was killed by a human and her father than abandoned her. She wishes for a better life, but she will fight with her bow if the need arises.

**Lance MacNeil**: A renegade angel on the run, Lance holds a deep grudge against the Cruxis. When on a journey, Kratos and Yuan killed him, but Aurion had second thoughts and decided to carry on Lance's hopes. As a result, Lance was reborn to be similar in appearance to Kratos, and MacNeil continues his quest to bring about the Cruxis's end.

**Acera**: For a half-elf, Acera's got a bit going for her. Having been given the weapon of a Sword-Dancer a while ago, the scythe-sword is now bound to Acera and no one else can use it. She also has a dragon spirit named Chan Yow to aid her, in a way not unlike Infernia and Blade's relationship (except that Infernia is inside Blade while Chan Yow is not within Acera, and Chan Yow was never hostile). Despite these facts, Acera is haunted by the death of Kym, her best friend, years ago by a number of bats in a cave. The villagers, eager to pin the blame on a half-elf, exiled her and Kym's young sister. Although Acera promised to keep Lyla safe, the two were seperated. Acera may seem to fight for the sake of fighting, but she is not a killer.

**Mystelle**: Mystelle is a very beautiful girl, but like anything in life, it can't be all good. Mystelle is cursed to be a half-demon, and during a New Moon, the demon comes and takes physical form while she is knocked out. The demon is like two halves of the same coin; in a way, there are two demons: Senka (Child of Darkness) and Mitsuko (Child of Light). Although it seems that Mitsuko is nothing like Senka, that still remains to bee seen. The three sides need each other, however, and if Mitsuko and Senka don't return to Mystelle before the New Moon after the one that freed them, all three will die.

**Veil Sixthkey**: As much of a researcher as an informer, Veil has the ability to see through any type of lock. Ironically, her weapon is a giant combination lock. She can store countless objects in her Robber's Purse Orbus, like the locks she likes to collect. She has a strong relationship with another researcher named Staccato, who has her own unique condition.

**Staccato Poltergiest**: It's not usual for a researcher to carry around more weapons than some armies, yet Staccato does. Her Robber's Purse Orbus, unlike Veil's, stores all sorts of weapons from katanas, daggers, claws, grenades, and simple firearms. Although born a Weapon, she was changed back to a human by the Arrowcoast Research Acadamy, and she works there now. Although good friends with Veil, Staccato is worried that not all of the demon inside her is gone; if in mortal danger, a merciless killing machine named Atropos will awaken, destroying all life in a twenty foot radius.

**Hiaven Dracier**: A full-elf, Hiaven uses a rather unorthodox style of fighting. By attaching swords to his gauntlets, Hiaven fights with "fist blades", each with a different elemental connection. His fighting skills are honed as well, giving him a number of techniques.

**Joseph Nova**: another Renegade that joined Lance on the journey to take down the Angels. Joey's skill with magic helps balance Lance's swordsmanship, yet even together they struggle against Thanatos. After the last brawl, Thanatos believes his two foes were killed, forcing Joey and Lance to work in the shadows to keep a low profile.

**Rahn Agle**: a mercenary from Tethe'Alla, he lived with Sheena until he was sent to Sylvarant at the age of 16. After that, he lived with Raine for a short while before heading off on his own. Although mostly focusing on swordsmanship, Rahn has practiced with lances.

**Flareon Jakomay**: A human-angel hybrid from another world called Kant'haur. In the process of wiping evil from his planet with the "Horizon Trigger", he was seemingly killed by in fact was transferred the Sylvarant. He is not like a Cruxis Angel, the Trigger actually evolved him into his new hybrid condition.

**Taffy**: A Carin terrier that Reagan found one day. A terrible fighter that would rather run, but the dog has an impressive sense of smell.


	2. Introduction to Mystery

Alright. Here goes.

"Someone's coming," a white robed woman muttered as she searched the desert. From her outfit she produced her staff and looked towards a storm of sand coming at her.

The cloud creeped closer to her, until in it she saw a man inside it. He stopped running, and the sand settled around both of them.

"You're a Weapon, aren't you?" the white haired, red eyed man as he unsheathed his bone-like sword. "Weird. I've never seen any like you before. Are you some experimental one?"

"I don't know what you're talking abo-wha!" Blade dashed to the side to dodge a brutal slash sent by Vulcan. _Damn! No foresight! I'll just have to fight smart. I wish I knew what this guy was though…_ "Just what are you!" she said as she swung her staff at his head.

"Like I'd tell you?" Vulcan ducked under the strike and looked at his sword. A simple stab should work. _I need blood for it to work. Not like that's a problem…_ Vulcan lunged forward and stabbed his foe in her heart. Blade, however, didn't seem phased by the stab and kicked Vulcan off. _I've never seen a Weapon like her before! It's almost like she only has one form! _He dodged another clubbing blow and pulled the sword out of her_. I need blood for my techniques, but she's completely dry. I'll have to find something else around here to suck up._

"This is crazy!" Blade said as she dodged another slash. _I don't even know what's going on here. I can't kill him if he's a being of Order, even if he doesn't seem to be one. I'll have to find some way to retreat until I know what's going on_. She pressed her hands together and focused. "Dragon…of Dark…ORDER!" A black beam shot out of her hands, but she steered it into the sand. A huge smokescreen shot up.

"What the! Stand and face your death!" Vulcan screamed as he searched around after the sand settled. _She's gone. Blast! If she's a Weapon, I could be paid a handsome amount if I delivered her to a research station. Whatever the case, I_ have _to find her again!_ He ran off into the desert, trying to find any source of his quarry.

Meanwhile, a black haired Angel began to return home. He had seen the fight and he had sensed something that scared him. "That girl…I felt a fiery force in her that exceeded that of Efreet. She could be some strange creature from another land. Whatever the case, Cruxis may have uses for her.

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, but it was my prototype. The others are all a lot longer


	3. Some like it hot

Also, if you can read what I'm writing and give me feedback, I'd really appreciate it.

A strange blue-haired woman walked through the village of Triet. The heat bothered her, but just looking at the oasis and its small lake made her feel better_. I wonder how long it'll take to find some way out of here._ She looked around her. How many people would be disgusted if they knew what she was? More importantly, how long will it take before a full moon? Mystelle looked around, seeing a number of unusual characters around her. A white robed girl asking where she was, a small half-elf getting angry as people tried to ask her out on dates, and a man who was approaching her with a long, black sword.

"Look out!" shouted Acera as she grabbed her scythe-sword. Finally, a fight in this little patch of hell!

Mystelle also turned and drew her knife just in time to block a strike. She didn't want to fight, but looks like she'd have to.

Dave Chryl jumped back to evade Acera's swinging blow. It was already two on one, and that robed woman looked ready to fight as well. He might need some backup. He focused on the bones of the desert, the countless creatures killed by travelers. They formed a massive undead dragon, and its bestial roar shook the entire village. It took flight, burning Triet's buildings.

Blade had to jump into battle now. _I just wish Delphi had taught me the Anti-Necro God Cannon. All I have is my Dragon of Dark Order and Infernia's fighting powers and skills. And STILL no foresight!_ Still, keeping the villagers safe came first. She fired her Dragons and the fire to put them out and helped find missing children while the fires roared around her. She just wished Infernia had had some fire manipulation powers to lend her.

Meanwhile, Mystelle was reacting to the fires in a bad manner and Acera was struggling against the man in black. "Damn you!" Mystelle screamed as she felt her demonic energies grow. No! She had to keep control of the children! She fitted an arrow in her bow and shot it at Chryl. He barely saw it before it sliced clean through his sword-arm. He lept away from the three woman and signaled his dragon. "Triet's remains are yours," he said as he flew away. He had one last gift for Blade, Mystelle, and Acera: a massive fire blast that would envelop all of Triet.

"This isn't over!" Acera shouted as she looked around. There was no normal way out, except maybe…she slashed into the air with her scythe-sword, opening a gate. "Come with me if you want to live!" Blade and Mystelle jumped in, no questions asked.

* * *

After proper introductions, Blade still didn't understand why she was brought to the sister worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla, let alone get home.

"So what're we gonna do?" Acera asked as she watched the small campfire die down. "I say hunt down that weird guy that burned Triet. Only thing I can think of."

"Sounds like a plan," Mystelle answered. "But when we fought I felt the de- I mean… something inside me. I just wonder what we can do against that Desian guy. I've never trusted half-elves, and I guess now there's another example." She quickly looked over to Acera. "Sorry."

"None taken. Hey Blade…"

"Yeah?" Blade wondered what this could be about.

"I'm sorry. Maybe the scythe-sword had something to do with you coming here."

"Well if it is, then at least we have the thing that brought me here with us. With any luck it can send me home."

* * *

Chryl opened the gate to the graveyard. Inside was a strange woman.

"You're late," she said as she tossed Dave a Necromantic tome.

Chryl flipped through it and grimaced. "The incantation pages are missing. We had a deal Ivory!"

"And you didn't get the half-demon!" Ivory began to walk away. This was frustrating. Mystelle had a dark side. She needed that darkness to serve her. "I believe they are near Meltokio now. Vulcan reports another Necromantic being has appeared in the two worlds. You two will track them down. I'm sure you two can capture them. And that third one, Acera, kill her and get her weapon. It will be of great use."


	4. The struggle begins

Two renegade angels surveyed the fields. They needed to find those three girls before it was too late.

"Lance," said one as he noticed two black-garbed men also searching around, "I think we may have company. Think they're after the same people?"

"Most likely. Joey, have you heard anything about Thanatos?"

"No, thank God," Joey answered as the two ducked down to avoid being spotted by Chryl and Vulcan. "We could wipe those two out instantly Lance! Why the hell are we just hiding out?"

"Because if word spreads that we're looking for them too, Thanatos is going to kill us off first. At least he wants the Oracle alive. What's Yggdrasill going to give him for this bounty?"

"I don't know. But I hear it's a king's ransom."

"Then let's hope we can get to them first."

* * *

As Acera and Mystelle slept as peacefully as they could, while Blade stayed up watching. She also looked at the dying embers of the campfire. "What have I become? Am I a monster?" she said aloud. That fight against the Fire Elementa, Infernia, had changed her. Infernia was _inside_ her now, a second personality. Blade dared not free this creature, for with her foresight the monster might be unstoppable. Not even the Sword-Mages could stop her. Not even Simon and his heat healing abilities. Simon…damn her duties. He was a sworn enemy of the Oracles after he and the others beat the Shining Paladins, but she felt he was more human than some of her comrades, despite the fact he was only half human.

"You're no monster," Mystelle remarked as she rolled around on her mat. "I am. You and I are alike, but at least you had a say in what you became."

"You heard everything?"

"Yeah. My condition…there's going to be a new Moon soon. If we don't-"

Blade cut her off. "One of the Sword-Mages I'm investigating is named Miki Owikamki. She has a pure-black soul; it stems its power from the darkness of the void. Yet I've seen her do good things with her power. She once told me that the even the damned have a right to live. A pure soul, no matter how dark it is, is still pure and incorruptible. I guess you're an example of that-" but a sudden vision cut her off.

She saw flames all around her…her eyes were red…her voice was Infernia's. She saw an Angel, egging her on to burn everything around her. She saw Acera and Mystelle dead.

"NO!" Blade screamed. It snapped her back to reality. It was five hours later. Dawn had broke and her comrades were getting ready to head to Meltokio. Maybe the Pope could send her home and free Mystelle from her cursed existence. Maybe he knew something about those two swordsmen. Not to mention a few Coliseum fights were set for today and Acera wanted to participate.

* * *

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Mystelle asked as Acera broke off from the group. "What if those guys come after us?"

"I'll be fine! I'll just-HEY!" a red-haired man wearing pink had sneaked up behind her and pinched Mystelle on the butt. In one smooth move, Acera jumped at him, punched him in the head, and kicked him in the crotch. "As I was saying," Acera continued as she jumped up and down on his body, breaking every bone the man, "I can take care of myself. If any of those black-suited guys come, I'll take care of them." She ran off and waited in line.

"Come on, let's go…," Mystelle said.

"Now let me see," the Pope said as he reviewed the duo's story again. "You'rea dimensional hopping undead Oracle, and you expect **ME** to help you?"

"Sir," Blade said, "If you could at least give us a name of someone to find, then we could…"

"Sure!" the Pope said as he walked to a door. "Anything to take you off my hands. In fact…" he opened the door, and standing there was Thantos, Vulcan, Chryl, and an unconscious Acera. "I think Mr. Chryl here could be of help."

"Hello ladies…" Vulcan sneered as he drew his sword out. He approached Blade, who was beat back effortlessly from a spell by Thanatos. Blade's body slumped, obviously out of it. Vulcan raised his blade, ready for the killing blow.

"Stop," said Kratos's brother. "We had a deal. You can take the half-breeds to Ivory. I have no use for them. I get the Oracle, however." He walked over the Blade and slung her over his body. He then walked out. His mission was accomplished.

Vulcan stopped and struck Mystelle across the face with the flat of his blade. "Very well. Chryl! Keep a grip on Acera! I'll get this one. We need her alive, remember?"

Mystelle was transfixed with horror. It was over. They had won. Wait a second… _'We need her alive, remember?'_ That gave her a chance. Before Vulcan could get her, however, Mystelle drew her knife. "S-stop!" she said. She wasn't going to let anyone be hurt by her actions. Not this time. "You need me alive…r-right?"

Chryl shot a dirty look at Vulcan's loose lips. _Damn his Vampire blood! We had this in the bag and now…we're going to have to bargain!_ "Alright. What's your terms?"

"You leave Acera here! If not, I die. If she is left here, I go quiet."

Chryl relaxed. It could have been something serious. "Fine." He dumped Acera's body on the ground but kept the scythe-sword.

"Alright. Come on." Vulcan grabbed Mystelle, took her knife, and dragged her out of the room. They just needed the scythe, not Acera. The half-elf might be the only one to use it, but Ivory could figure that problem out, hopefully.

* * *

A few minutes later Lance and Joseph smashed through the windows. "Damn!" Joey said as he looked at the struggle. "Blade and Mystelle gone, Acera's weapon too. What do we do now?"

Lance picked up Acera, still unconscious. "We find the others, like Staccato. We still can't get involved directly and not have Thanatos notice us. Staccato would be perfect bait for Vulcan and should head after Ivory first. We can't let her manipulate Mystelle or everything goes to Hell."

"What about Blade?"

"We know nothing about her. Might as well see what Cruxis wants with her. Come on, we have to get out now."

Things were going bad very fast. If Cruxis got their hands on Blade, who knows what they could do with her abilities?


	5. The New Group

_When we had last left the group, Blade had been captured by Thanatos Aurion while Mystelle had persuaded Vulcan and Chyrl to let Acera go. Lance and Joe had burst in minutes later, realizing what had happened. The two Renegades knew they had to stop both the Cruxis and Ivory Noir before everything went to Hell, but they'd have to keep a low profile. They'd have to put their trust in another group of travelers to rescue Mystelle while they tried to find Blade._

_Where am I_? Blade thought as she woke up. She was shackled to a wall in some sort of tower_. What's going on here?" Where was everyone?_ Where was her Staff? Where were Acera and Mystelle?

"She's something odd," Mithos said as he and Thanatos viewed her through a two-way mirror. "Her staff too. You say it can absorb elemental beings?"

"That's correct," Thanatos said. He was getting angry. For two days tests had been done on the Oracle, and he still hadn't gotten his reward. "Now are you ever going to give me those Cruxis Crystals or not?"

Mithos laughed. "How rude of me! I forgot your reward!" He tossed Thanatos a key ring with dozens of keys. "Those are the keys to the Tethe'Alla bridge's control room. The one with the three thousand Exspheres. I'm sure that's all the power you'll ever want."

Thanatos bowed. Three thousand Exspheres. All his. "Thank you, Lord Yggdrasill."

* * *

"So you're telling me us you want us to take on a Necromancer?" Alran Gavel asked as he and his fellow travellers talked to Lance. "Just to save some sort of half-demon girl?"

"That is correct," Lance said. "I've also requested a Weapon and her comrade to come with you to try to draw Vulcan out. You know him, right Alran?"

Alran nodded. "Yeah, I know him. But what's to say this Weapon doesn't turn on us?" Sure, he was travelling with some friends, but could he, Maple, and Rahn stand up to an unknown Weapon?

"Because she hates Vulcan, already has an occupation as a Researcher, and can control her demon form. Her name is Staccato. You'll like her. I think you've also met her friend, Veil is her name. She's a researcher who's working on ways to make Weapons maintain human form."

"So what's the payment?" Rahn asked. He hoped it was worth while. "It better be worth it, considering Alran has a tab way past due."

"It's worth it," Joey remarked as he flipped a silver coin around in his hand. "An all expense paid gambling adventure on Palmacosta's first gambling steamboat."

"We also have access to the Palmacosta Academy's labs. I'm sure Veil and Staccato will like those."

Maple didn't like that too much. "Being so close to the ocean…I don't think so…"

Lance nodded. "I know. After this little journey, we'll help you get your forests back."

The Hoheinerian smiled at the last part. Sounded like a good idea. Just one problem. "What about Acera?" asked Rahn. "We can't carry a KO'd body around with us. Somebody has to keep an eye on her until she wakes up in the village." Everybody then looked at him, evil grins on their faces. "Oh crap."

* * *

"Are you sure he'll come?" Staccato whispered as she stood in the forest. "Vulcan may not even know I'm here."

"Don't worry about it," Alran said, "Rahn spread the word around the villages that a Weapon was in the forest. He'll show up."

"He's coming!" Maple hissed. "The birds just saw him!" The group got in its positions and hid. The plan was easy enough, but would it really work?

"Oh, here I am, not a trap at all…" Staccato said out loud, hoping Vulcan would hear her.

_Perfect_, thought Vulcan who drew his sword and stabbed it into a bunny for energy, _Two bounties in one day_… He lunged at Staccato, who saw him coming a mile away.

The Weapon drew her kunai, evaded Vulcan's slash, and attacked with her own blades. "Alright! GO!"

Maple, Alran, and Veil lunged forward to aid the Weapon, but Vulcan quickly realized what was going on.

"So you've sided with a Weapon, Alran? What pathetic excuse for respect I had for you is gone." He quickly dodged the swinging blows of the giant combination lock and pocket watch. "You should know I got a sizable reward for capturing the half-demon...". He snapped his fingers as an icestorm flared up in the forest. "That's just a fraction of my power. Not to mention now my Vampyric powers have increased. See that? Creatures dying? Doesn't that make you angry Maple?"

This was too much for Maple, seeing the creatures of the forest die in a brutal snow flurry. She charged at the Weapon Hunter, who used her lack of focus against her. In one swift slash, Maple's knife was knocked away from her and Vulcan put Maple in an armlock.

"I always knew your love of nature was your greatest weakness," Vulcan remarked as the environment got colder and colder. "I wouldn't attack if I were you. You wouldn't want this tree hugger to die, would you? But just to make things interesting…" Vampire fangs appeared in his mouth and bit into Maple's neck, causing her to scream in agony. "In just a few moments she'll be a full vampire as well…but if you attack me, I kill her anyways."

_Damn!_ thought Alran, _I have to do something fast or else everything's screwed badly!_ But he couldn't do anything except stand there. That wasn't a problem, however.

"Two minutes," Vulcan sneered as he walked slowly away into the open. "Two minutes and then you die." But then he stepped on something, and a click was heard. "What the-" But he never finished. An explosion blasted him and Maple. "How'd you…" He screamed. The blast had been right behind him, so Maple wasn't hurt too badly, but his arm had been blown off.

"A feint within a feint," Veil said as she pulled Maple out from under Vulcan.

"Quick!" Staccato shouted as she put her katana to Vulcan's throat. "Tell us where Mystelle is, or I swear to God I'll heal you just enough to beat you to a pulp!"

Vulcan laughed for a few seconds before coughing up a good amount of blood. "You'll never find out…and your friend is a full fledged Vampire now. The curse is hers, and…and…a…" Vulcan's body went limp. He was dead.

Everyone looked at Maple, who seemed as dark now as Vulcan was. But what she said next made everyone breath easier.

"Let's meet back up with Rahn at Sybak. I know where Ivory is, and if she's the one that let Vulcan turn me into this, she'll know how to set my right."

Things were getting out of hand, but maybe if Ivory could be found, the pieces of the puzzle could start to fit together.


	6. Fight for fire

Well, I guess I'll try to cram everyone left after I saw there were only four people unaccounted for. They'll be the main characters of the next chapter.

"Her resistance to the absorption effects is decreasing," said an Angel inspecting Blade's condition. "She can't take much more of this."

"Keep it up!" Mithos shouted back, "I want to see how far she'll go before she cracks! Have her staff stabbed into even more elementals! I want to see what happens!"

The scientists complied, stabbing the Dracostaff into different alchemic creatures. Their powers and mindsets traveled over to the captured Oracle. "For the love of God, STOP!" Blade screamed. Her mind was being flooded with different thoughts, but there was one voice that was with her, trying to stem the madness.

_As much as I hate you,_ one voice said, _You are my master now. I must serve you. It is my duty as Infernia, the Fire Elementa. Just let me loose._

_You…Infernia!_ Blade thought as her mental image saw the burning female effigy. _But why?_

_Because of self-preservation. I can purge your mind of these damned Elementals…just let me loose_.

Blade nodded. There was no other way out. Infernia, no longer a prisoner in her mind, ripped through the lesser creatures in Blade's mind. Flames fell from the sky, smashing through the dungeon. Mithos quickly fled. Looks like he finally got what he wanted.

Blade's eyes glowed red and her staff flew into her hands. She broke from her bounds. "Angels of Derris-Karlan, time to die."

* * *

"So the Oracle finally gave in," Ivory remarked as she inspected Acera's weapon in the large mausoleum in the graveyard. "I'll have to start sooner than I had hoped. But now that I have a weapon from the Underworld…"she grinned. The weapon's powers were not what she had desired, but it's origin. Because it was made in the Underworld, she could now travel to that land. Her Necromantic powers would increase exponentially in the land of the dead. "Now if you would just comply…" she slapped the woozy Mystelle.

"No way in Hell…I won't let you…use me…"Mystelle rasped before getting backhanded hard by Chryl.

"No!" Ivory snapped. "The half-demon needs to be in reasonable shape for what I'm planning." Something occurred to Ivory just then, and she went whiter than usual. "I sense something like Vulcan's new vampire form coming, but not alone…and with allies. Chryl, get your equipment. You must hold them off until my ritual is complete!"

Dave nodded. He grabbed his black sword, as well as his new Necro-bracer, and with a quick spell, a force of a dozen agile skeletons appeared to aid him as well. His group headed out to fight.

"She's getting worse," Rahn said as he looked at Maple. Vulcan's death hadn't stopped the transformation from Hoheinerian to Vampire, it had only delayed it. True, by being bitten she saw all that Vulcan had seen in his life, but what good would that be when she wasn't even recognized by the forest animals she had sworn to protect.

"I can fight, damn it!" Maple choked out before coughing. She was pale and her warm red eyes were becoming a sinister shade of green.

"Somebody should stay behind to keep an eye on her. Acera, how about you?" Alran asked as he looked around the graveyard's entrance.

Acera shook her head. "No. Those sons of took my scythe-sword, and I'm get back at them."

"But you don't have a weapon," Staccato remarked as she looked inside the foggy graveyard.

"You could solve that easily! You carry around more weapons than some armies!"

Staccato laughed while Veil and Alran drew their weapons.

"I hear something coming," Maple grunted. Being a Vampire may have its benefits, but she'd never enjoy being like that for long.

Everyone nodded and ran off, except for Acera who swore at everyone under her breath. She was stuck watching a girl who was more capable of fighting than she was, or at least that's what everyone else though. "Chan, I might need your help."

A quiet voice that only she heard responded. "Understood."

* * *

"Alright," Alran whispered to Veil as he looked around, "get ready for anything."

The group members readied their pocket watch, sword, combination lock, and… ungodly arsenal of weapons for whatever was in the cemetery, but what they saw amazed them. From the ground burst the hands of countless zombies, while Dave and his Skeletons charged into battle as well.

"Oh !" Veil said as she bashed in a nearby zombie's head. "Rahn, look out!"

The mercenary turned around, sword ready to be brought down, but he stopped. It was his brother, a zombie, but his brother. "No…no…"

"Get a grip!" Alran shouted as he jumped a low swipe from a sword-wielding skeleton.

"Rahn, use common sense!" Staccato shouted as she gunned down a number of the undead. "You're brother's dead, but why would he be in this graveyard of all places?" Her guns clicked; she needed something new. A grenade out to do the trick…

Veil knew better. Being a researcher had taught her a thing or two, but it seemed Staccato was being caught to up in the moment to let her scientific side to work. "Don't toss that!" she dodged a zombie rush and smashed another several. "There's methane in the graveyard! We light that and we're all dead!"

Meanwhile, Chryl had slipped around the battle to Maple and Acera. "My, my, my," he said as he drew his sword. "I can kill you finally and a vampire to have fun with. Time to die!"

The human lunged forward, but Acera managed to dash to the side, but Chryl picked up the injured Maple and ran back. Ivory would know what to do.

"Damn it! Chan, now would be a good time!" A pair of green and black wings sprouted from her back and she took to the skies in pursuit.

"What the…" Said Staccato broke off from battle long enough to see Dave run by, drop Maple right in the fray in terror at what he saw, run off again, and finally Acera actually flying. A skeleton took this opportunity to smash her in the neck, knocking the Weapon to the ground. Rahn was still fighting his brother's doppelganger, so Veil and Alran had their hands full with the rest of the zombies and skeletons.

* * *

When Dave returned to the Mausoleum, Ivory had just opened up a black portal and tossed Mystelle into it. "Dave," she remarked as she stepped through, "I'm leaving this in you _ever_ so capable hands. Best of luck."

He turned around, only to see Acera glide over him and grab… "The scythe-sword! What the Hell, Ivory didn't take it with her?"

Acera grinned. "Of course! And now it's my turn to wipe your ass all around this Graveyard for what you did to me in Meltokio!" She assumed a combat stance and charged, swinging quickly and focusing on small areas.

_How did she get so good so fast!_ Dave thought as he was quickly forced to fight defensively. "You can't be that good! I mean, I beat you apart at the Coliseum!" Chryl dodged to the side, but Acera stabbed forward, slicing off Chryl's cape and shirt.

"You don't honestly think I was fighting at my fullest, did you? I mean, I had to run through a ton of fights before you and your Vulcan buddy ganged up on me!" She blocked a desperate stab from Chryl and grinned. "And you know what?"

Chryl was getting annoyed. He ducked a stab and slashed at the Half-elf's feet, but she jumped onto the blade, kicked him in the head, then jumped off. "What?" he grunted as he wiped the blood off his mouth. He locked his black sword against Acera's scythe-sword and pressed hard. He could still win this. He knew he could.

Acera grinned. "That Vulcan guy was the only reason you won! And he's learned more in his lifetime about fighting than you would learn in the next million years!" She kicked Chryl in the crotch, which lowered his arms, then chopped his right arm and his sword away. She moved her scythe-sword inches away from the bleeding Chryl's neck. "You lose."

Dave laughed. "Not yet." He tapped his black bracer. "My lifeforce will go to the zombies and skeletons. You're friends will never beat them now!"

Acera looked away to the battlefield. Rahn, Veil, Alran, and Staccato were surrounded by a huge horde. She had to act fast. _I just hope Blade explained that Anti-Necro God thing to me right! Cleric Guarvi, I call upon your powers!_ "Anti…Necro…God…" Her eyes flashed white, as did her fingertips. She pointed to the crowds of creatures. "CANNON!" White lasers fired from her hands, striking down the zombies and skeletons as if they were nothing. As the beams finished firing from her hands, the group looked at her with curiosity. "Blade said something about this one weird attack that instantly beats the undead," she explained. "Blade couldn't use it because she was undead too, but she at least knew how to use it."

The situation was over, at least for now. They had to find Lance and Joey now for any chance of pursuing Ivory, saving Mystelle, or finding Blade.

* * *

Meanwhile, the two Renegades were finding people willing enough to search for the Oracle. They just hoped they three in question were up to it.

"Lance, I think you've lost it, I mean, you recruited a Dancer and a pair of Martial Artists?"

"And a dog."

"Whatever the case, thing's aren't going well up with the Angels. Flareon is part Angel, he's the ticket to Blade. Meanwhile, we need to find Thanatos. He's still part of whatever's going on, no matter how strong he is."


	7. Infernia tamed

Here's the next chapter. If the way into Derris-Karlan is screwed up, it's just I didn't get too far in ToS. Anyways,hope you like it. :)

"Damn it!" Acera, Alran, Veil, Rahn, and Staccato all yelled in unison. Ivory had gotten away with Mystelle to the Underworld, Maple was growing Vampire fangs and her eyes were green, and they had no way of chasing after her. Thankfully, Veil and Staccato knew a decent amount of old books and began combing the books Ivory had left behind for anything that might help.

Two hours later, the two managed to find just the incantation. "Here goes," Veil said. She motioned for Acera to come over and etch a circle around the group. The two researchers looked at each other and focused. The chant began, and they prayed they together could match what the Necromancer had also done.

"_Lands of Darkness,_

_Lands of Death,_

_Lands where the unliving_

_Still draw breath._

_Guide us to _

_This unholy realm_

_Where swordsmen cleave those of_

_Armor and helm._

_There is someone there_

_Who should not be,_

_There is someone there_

_Who should be free._

_We ask you now to take us_

_To World's Under,_

_Where murderers scream_

_While justice thunders."_

The circle glowed with an eerie black light that surrounded the group. Everything went dark, but when they could see themselves, they all gasped.

"What the?" Alran said as he looked at himself. He was a skeleton! He was wearing his clothers, and his trusty pocket watch was with him, but it was like he was a…

"Sword dancers. It makes perfect sense. They are dead in our world, while we are dead in theirs," Staccato said. One person though, was relieved at her transformation.

"I'm normal!" Maple shouted as she looked in a small pool of water. Her eyes were red again, her color had returned, and the fangs were already shriveling away. "I guess since I was undead in Tethe'Alla, I'm normal here."

This remark caught Acera's attention. "Doesn't that mean that this happened to Ivory and, oh God, NO! Mystelle's human side was dominant before, so that means…"

Not to far away, a bestial scream that sounded like Mystelle's voice startled them all. They were too late.

* * *

Save for her now fleshy right arm, Ivory too was a skeleton. She grinned as Mystelle, strengthened by demon powers, ripped apart Sword-Dancer after sword dancer. No wonder Mystelle tried to control that side of her. Soon, all the knowledge in the universe would be hers.

* * *

"This isn't going to work!" Hiaven Dracier rasped as he stood in front of Flareon as they approached the Tower of Salvation. "There is no way in Hell this is going to work!"

"Just relax!" Reagan said beside him. "This should work fine, I mean, rumors are that the Desians are doing genetic experiments. Just calm down!"

Flareon's wings spread as he chanted aloud. "Fellow Angels! I have brought two prisoners for Lord Yggdrasill to see."

He waited as several other Angels flew down from the skies. "I am sorry," a red-winged Angel said as he looked at the prisoners. "There is some sort of conflict going on and we can't afford to bring anyone else in unless they fight well."

Flareon laughed. "Fight well? I'm the best Martial Artist in all of Cruxis! Come on, you take the prisoners so I can fight."

The two Angels looked at each other, silently debating what was going on. Eventually they shrugged and walked over to Reagan and Dracier, who snapped off their restraints and gutted the two Angels with their fist-blades and a hidden arrow.

"It's alright Taffy, you can come out now!" Reagan called as a small little dog came out from the bushes. Normally bringing along a dog would be suicide, but they needed to find Blade soon and they had a torn piece of Blade's robe.

Flareon picked up Reagan, who was holding Taffy, and Hiaven and flew into the skies- into Derris-Karlan. Whatever Blade had become, they had to find her.

Thanatos walked down the Grand Tethe'Alla bridge to his goal: the control room where three thousand Exspheres were held. As he walked to the control room, two guards stood in front of him with their swords blocking his path.

"Sir," one said, "You cannot go in there."

Thanatos chuckled. "I'm sorry. I never thought for a second there would be to few guards protecting Meltokio's life-line."

The two soldiers stood baffled for a split second before a Galaxian Light Spear shredded them up like frogs in a blender. Travellers screamed and fled as a number of soldiers charged Thanatos only to be annihilated by a Thunder Blade.

With no more problems present, Thanatos unlocked and then entered the storage shed.

"Not so fast!" shouted a person Thanatos had thought was dead. He turned around to see Lance and Joey had just touched down onto the bridge. "You may be far more powerful than us together, but we're not going to let you take those Exspheres!"

Lance and Joey readied their weapons, knowing there was only one way to win: stall until the two groups could find them. Either that, or one of them would have to die to win.


	8. Demon's arrival

Since there are three fights coming up in this chapter, it's going to be a bit long. Bear with me.

"You two honestly think you can stop me?" Thanatos remarked as the True Flamberg glittered in the ocean's reflected sunlight. If he was serious, he could win this in about ten minutes. Then again, why cut the fun short? He charged at Lance while Stalagmites shot up to keep Joey from casting a spell.

Lance used this opportunity to perform a Judgement Slash, which knocked the Flamberg away of its user. Thanatos jumped to avoid the shockwave and spin kicked into Lance as he fell down, only to get trapped in a Raging Mist by Joey. Lance then charged back and slashed at the reeling Angel, who managed to spring back at the last possible second.

It was about time he got serious.

* * *

Hiaven, Reagan, and Jakomay stayed in the shadows as Taffy searched for Blade's scent. Thankfully with all the fireballs raining down, Blade's location was easy enough to find.

When the group finally found her, she was crossing a bridge. "You dare stand against me?" the red-eyed Oracle said as flames shot down from the sky. Taffy quickly ran away while Reagan, Hiaven, and Flareon hoped they could do what an army of Angels couldn't.

"We've been sent by friends of Acera and Mystelle," Reagan said. She didn't want to fight, but she was backhanded away.

_We can't do this!_ Blade thought as she argued with the Fire Elementa's persona. _I'm taking back control, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind!_

_Shut up!_ Infernia shot back. _Paranoia's not a crime, especially since two of them could be Cruxis members._ Blade/Infernia clutched her forehead as one of her red eyes returned to normal. "Behind you!" shouted Blade in her normal voice.

Hiaven, Reagan, and Flareon looked behind them to see a small army of Angels. Flareon and Reagan quickly ran back to stand against them. "Try to talk some sense into her!" Reagan shouted as she loaded an arrow into her bow and fired into the mob while Flareon raised his arms and levitated. About ten seconds later a green aura erupted from him, knocking back the approaching Angels.

"But why me!" But he quickly realized. Flareon was partly an Angel, and Blade didn't know he was also human, and Blade also didn't know that not all Half-Elves were Desians. _Wonderful,_ thought Hiaven as he readied his Mana Blades. _It's almost as if some supernatural entity is making me fight this Dimension-Hopper to make up a favor._

Yeah, some supernatural entity…

Blade almost was shocked when she saw the fist blades. _They're not too different than Miki's, back home. Anyways, I've got to try to convince Infernia to stand down before I kill him…or possibly vice versa._ Blade/Infernia spun the Dracostaff around and it split into two silver rapiers, lunged forward, and sent a barrage of stabs at Hiaven.

The Elf quickly dodged to the side, but jumped back to dodge a fireball that shot down from the sky. "I'm no Angel! For the love of God-"

"I AM a god!" Blade shouted as she brought her rapiers down on Hiaven's head only to be blocked by the Mana Blades. "I will not let my master's naiveté stop me from protecting her!" She struck forward, but Hiaven projected an Energy Shield and kicked her in the face.

"I'm not your enemy!" Hiaven pleaded as he dodged another attack. "Blade, I don't know who you are, but this Infernia claims to be your servant! Would your servant go against your wishes?" He looked back to see Reagan and Flareon struggling against continuing flood of Angels. This threw him off guard allowing Blade to stab him in the leg.

"First lesson of battle," Blade sneered as she turned the rapier around in his leg, "NEVER get distracted."

Hiaven laughed. "Second lesson of battle!" he shouted as he began spinning, which threw his foe off balance. "NEVER get cocky! SONIC SPEAR!" He spun threw the air, slicing Blade up like a blender with a frog in it. As they began falling, he stabbed Blade's arms, causing her to drop the rapiers. Two bodies hit the ground in very different ways. One landed gracefully while the other landed with a hard thud. Hiaven shot lethal eyes at Blade. "Yield."

"Burn in Hell, you bastard!" Blade screamed back as a dozen fireballs shot down from the sky. Some were above Reagan and Flareon, but a quick dash followed by an energy field from Hiaven blocked that.

_STOP!_ Blade screamed in her mind. _This has gone on for too long! GET OUT OF MY HEAD OR I'LL DRIVE YOU OUT!_ Her hands grasped around one of her swords. "If I die, so do you, Infernia. YIELD!"

Finally, the Fire Elementa gave in. Blade's left eye returned to normal, but she now had complete control over Infernia's powers. Another blast of fireballs rained down on the attacking Angels, clearing the path.

"Sorry, about all that. Now let's try to find Joey and Lance," Blade said before picking up her rapiers and running off.

Maple, Hiaven, and Flareon exchanged glances. Was Blade for real? A few seconds ago she was the enemy and now…

Well, it wasn't the weirdest thing to happen.

* * *

"That's it," Ivory said as she observed the demon Mystelle from a distance. As the "Undead" of the Underworld were struck down effortlessly by the woman, Ivory was there to pick up the pieces. Or to be more precise, to pick up their remains. Her skeletal left arm sucked up their bodies and bit by bit, the knowledge of the Universe was revealed to her. She already could see that a small group of fighters were coming up behind her, but she had a surprise for them. Her right hand's finger's glowed white. "Anti…Necro…"

Not to far away, Veil, Staccato, Rahn, Maple, Alran, and Acera noticed white streams coming at them. "What the?" Acera said as she dodged to the side. "That's MY move! Besides, how'd you learn it?"

Ivory laughed as she jumped into view. "Please, you stole it from an Oracle that can't even use that move, and she stole it from someone else. As for your question, I've absorbed a hefty amount of the undead. Necromancy was originally used for divination and now…"

"You know the spell because you saw someone learning it in the past…" Alran said as he readied his pocket watch. Veil, Staccato, Acera, and Rahn did the same, but Maple stopped them all.

"Don't you get it! You're undead right! Those beams hit you and whatever is keeping you alive gets its connection severed. At least it has to hit me somewhere critical to kill me!" She stood in between them all, trying to talk them down.

"Please," Ivory sneered, "let the little former-Vampire try to take me on herself! That way, when I kill her she can't protect any of you! Or if you would prefer," her hand glowed white again, "I'll just kill you all right now."

The group looked at Maple, and their looks said just one thing: Don't screw up. They stepped away, letting the Hoheinerian and undead Ivory prepare for battle.

Ivory and Maple looked at each other, focusing on how they were going to win. Both plans were simple, but simple and easy mean entirely different things.

_Go,_ they both thought. Ivory charged forward, swinging her left arm around, with its claws bared. Maple blocked it with her knife and punched at Ivory's skeletal head. Ivory then leapt back and etched in the air the Plague Insignia. It shattered, sending hundreds of shards for Maple to evade.

Maple quickly dodged from left to right with her Gekido Ken and pounded Ivory across the face. Ivory spun with the blow, knocked Maple in the neck, and sent the Hoheinerian flying. Ivory then called upon her trademark weapon: the Apocalypse Horde.

"What the…" Rahn started before Ivory's right hand glowed white. "Damn. We can't even do anything or else she just blasts us away."

Acera snapped her fingers. "I know how to beat her!" she whispered. If Ivory knew what they were planning, everything would be lost. Hopefully Ivory didn't know all and see all just yet.

Maple got beat back by another round of pounding on Ivory and her skeleton's behalf. She rolled to the side, but four skeletons stepped on her limbs, holding her down.

Ivory grinned. "And now you die. Anti-Necro God Canno-"

"Now Alran!" shouted Acera. Alran quickly flung his pocket watch around Ivory's right hand and pulled. Her right hand's beams now shot into her undead left hand, killing herself.

Ivory slumped to the ground, as did her skeletons. She had lost. "Damn you all…" she said as her body became one with the earth.

"Too late," said a demonic voice as everyone spun around to see Mystelle. "How fitting you killed Ivory off. Now I think it's your turn!" The demon lunged forward, with a blood red knife glittering.


	9. Demon vs Demon

This chapter was written by a friend on and revised be me

"Dammit!" Rahn shouted, whipping out his shield, as Acera steadied her Scythe, "I will not hurt you Mystelle, dammit, I WON'T!"

"Smart move!" growled the Dark Demon, almost reaching them, "I am an immortal being; you'd never stand a chance!"

"No. But I can." Another form, which had gone unnoticed crouching over Mystelle had flown in front of the party, "We may be almost the same creature and be binded by this poor girl." she said, staring at her other half, "But I will protect these creatures who she wanted to shield herself."

The dark demon swore, "Dammit, Mitsuko!" she screamed, "I may be like you, but I will have darkness!"

"Child." whispered Mitsuko, still looking at her darkness, "Get Mystelle and your friends-"

"Associates" Acera muttered sourly, but Mitsuko plunged on.

"Open into your world and get them out of here, I shall deal with my...sister, if you will, you must protect Mystelle, I will be fine, GO!"

Acera ran forward to the unconscious Mystelle, who was lying on a pile of bones, and slashed open a gap to another world. The others, seeing Mitsuko protect and speak to Acera, ran forwards, Rahn picked up Mystelle gently and ran through the portal, followed by Veil, Maple and the others, Acera glanced back at Mitsuko and her dark-side battling, and she heard her voice,  
_"Go. I will be alright, Mystelle can explain about us when she wakes, when the new moon is over, she will wake at night-fall and be part-demon again, please protect her."_

Acera grudgingly jumped through the gap, slicing it back into place. Rahn, still holding Mystelle's limp form said,  
"Well? She's going to be ok, right? And where did you send us?"

"Outskirts of Ozette." replied Acera, distractedly, "She said Mystelle will wake up when it's not a New Moon anymore, so she should be awake by night-fall." She then turned to the group at large, "For now, we'll set up camp. Keep her away from the fire, then I'll cut us to Mizuho so we can search for a cure for Maple, then when Mystelle wake up, she can tell us about all this." Then Acera walked away, muttering something about getting more firewood, but she still wondered, just maybe, if she could have seen Kym...


	10. Infernia's wrath

A/N: Well, it's about time for Thanatos to get what's coming for him!

"Is that all?" Thanatos inquired to the brutalized Lance and Joey. He kicked Joey in the gut, causing the Renegade to fly through the ocean. Alive? Dead? Lance had no idea.

"We won't…" but Lance's strength was gone. Thanatos picked up the warrior and raised his Flamberg. It shot forward, but just as it plunged into Lance's head, an arrow knocked it away.

Thanatos turned to see Blade, Hiaven, Flareon, and Reagan ready to shut him up. "Don't make me laugh…" Thanatos remarked as he tossed Lance away. Better not to have distractions considering it was four on one. Still, a little fun would be nice. He raised his left hand as a white aura surrounded him. "Archangels: RISE!" From the sky shot down three creatures that looked to be angels. A holy aura of light surrounded them as they touched down on the bridge. "Allow me to introduce my Archangels: Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael. Now together they could easily wipe you out, but where's the fun in that?"

"What do you mean?" asked Flareon as he readied his katanas.

Thanatos laughed. "Simple. There will be a three on three battle. If you win, you get the chance of taking me on. If you lose, then I kill Joey, who's in the water, and Lance without a second thought. Sound good?"

"Fine," Blade said as she sat down. "I'll deal with Thana-"

"No!" Jakomay shouted back. "You may have a bit of foresight, but you can't fight an Angel on his own terms. I can. I'll jump in and save Joey before it's too late. Just keep them busy." He leapt in after the Renegade while Thanatos laughed. Today was going to be fun.

Blade, Hiaven, and Reagan looked at the angels and quickly decided who would fight whom. "Reagan, you should take Gabriel. Where I come from," Blade explained, "Raphael is the healer angel. No offense, but we need to balance out strength. We don't know how strong Michael is, after all, he's the fighter."

"Guess I'm taking Gabriel?" Hiaven asked as he strapped on his Mana blades.

"Yeah. He's the messenger angel. I'm sorry, it's just Michael is going to be extremely strong and I'm the one with a goddess's power."

Hiaven slumped, but he knew Blade had a point. They charged at the respective angels, ready for battle.

Blade's Dracostaff slammed down on Michael's longsword, but the angel dodged to the side and slashed back. Blade dodged the attack and kicked Michael in the chest, but Michael countered by grabbing her leg and tossing her into the ground. "I'm just glad I got the hard guy after all," Blade remarked as she stood up, not knowing how wrong she was…

Reagan was struggling terribly against Raphael. She fired three arrows into him, but the angel simply regenerated.

"You don't get it, do you?" Raphael shouted as he smashed his mace into her. "To be able to give life, one has to be able to take it away!"

"And in order to be the perfect messenger…" Gabriel said as he feinted going left and kicked Hiaven with his right leg, "One must be able to be a master of deception!" Gabriel then dodged a slash from Hiaven and punched him in the gut.

_Damn!_ Blade thought as she dodged a slash from Michael. _My arrogance did this! I should have suspected Thanatos had something planned._

_I need to figure something out!_ Reagan thought as her body continued being aged to death. It was a slow process, but she needed to get away from his magic. Something occurred to her: "Blade! Switch!"

The Oracle was confused for a split second, but quickly kicked Michael away and tackled Gabriel. As Reagan stood up to Michael, she could already feel Gabriel's effects going away. As Michael attacked her, she jumped away and fired two arrows that caught Michael's right arm.

Raphael was amazed at the Hiaven was putting up a decent fight against him. As Hiaven struck at the angel's head, Raphael squatted down. Hiaven countered by kicking up into Raphael's crotch, which knocked him up into Hiaven's blade. Raphael quickly turned his head on its side to avoid being decapitated.

"You might want to stop trying to age me," Blade remarked as he pounded Gabriel with her staff. "After all, casting death-based spells on the undead doesn't work well." Gabriel took her advice and instead swung his massive mace at the head. Blade blocked it with her staff and kicked him away. Things were starting to work out pretty well. With any luck, they could beat the Archangels and then go after Thanatos.

_I hope he's around here somewhere,_ Flareon thought as he searched the water underneath the bridge. He quickly saw the Renegade bobbing in the water, obviously knocked out. He swam over to Joey and slapped his face. "Come on, damnit! Wake up!" But there was no luck until an angelic figure flew down from the sky.

"Need…some help?" Lance asked as he managed to toss the two a rope. His wings were barely flapping; he was pretty weak. He quickly flew back to the bridge and collapsed.

"What did I tell you about helping people out?" Thanatos remarked as he picked up Lance again. "Guess I'll have to kill you for real this time." Thanatos picked up his Flamberg and prepared for the killing blow again, but once again he was stopped.

"Not on my watch!" Blade screamed as she decapitated Gabriel and burned his body to a crisp at long last while Hiaven gutted Raphael and Reagan shot Michael through the head with an arrow. She placed her right hand over her left and focused. Maybe Thanatos's negative energies would be the magnet she needed. "DRAGON OF DARK ORDER!"

Thanatos had seen the attack before, but he hadn't seen it in action yet. The dragon of black energy shot straight at him, engulfing him in its black flames. Everyone, including the arriving Joey and Flareon jumped for joy, but they suddenly stopped.

Out of the flames came a burnt, bleeding, cut, but truly angry Thanatos. "You !" he screamed. "I should have killed the moment I saw you when you fought Vulcan in the desert! It's not any day that someone makes me have to show them raw power!" Thanatos lunged at Blade, with his sword ready.

"You want it raw?" Blade said as her eyes began to glow red again and her voice became that of Infernia's. "OKAY," she lunged at Thanatos and stabbed him with her staff, "YOU'VE GOT IT RAW!"

Everyone was amazed that Blade could now turn on Infernia like a light switch, but that instantly changed to fear as Thanatos grabbed the staff, pulled it out of his body, and smashed Blade across the face with it. "Warriors of Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant," he announced, "Prepare to die, and don't worry, I'LL HELP!" He charged at the others, ready to kill.


	11. Possession

When we last left the gang, they had finally faced off against Thanatos. Unfortunately, with Blade, Joey, and Lance disposed of, the rest of the group will have their hands full.

_This isn't going to be easy,_ thought Flareon as he, Reagan, and Hiaven looked at Thanatos. The Angel was hurt, that was obvious. He didn't defeat Joey and Lance without struggle, and Blade's Dragon of Dark Order had burnt much of his body, and his wings were bleeding masses. Still, Thanatos's power could be felt in the air. He wasn't a god, no, he was a _monster_.

Thanatos was also thinking. Normally he'd toy around with them, but after Blade's little adventure, he felt just one desire: to kill without delay. He charged at the group, his Flamberg slashing towards them. The three jumped back, but Thanatos dashed at Jakomay and slashed down. The human-angel hybrid blocked the attack with one of his katanas and stabbed at Thanatos's gut with the other. Thanatos actually caught the blade with his bare hand and kicked Flareon away. Unfortunately for him, an arrow pierced into his sword-hand. _Damn!_ Thanatos thought as his sword fell into the water. _The wounds Blade gave me are worse than I thought. I might actually have to…fall back._ The thought was like an insult, but Thanatos knew it was his only chance. At full power he could easily beat those three. In the condition he was in now, Lance or Joey could sneeze on him and his body would liquefy.

"What's the matter?" Hiaven asked as he punched at Thanatos. Thanatos easily caught the fist, but Dracier swung his elbow forward and it smashed into Thanatos's face. "Feeling like you should retreat?"

"As a matter of fact…" Thanatos rasped as he threw Hiaven away, "…yes." He jumped into the water, and was gone.

The three warriors looked around and the wrecked bridge. Thankfully, Blade, Lance, and Joey were still twitching. With a few healing spells, they ought to be fine.

* * *

"Damn it!" shouted Senka as she and Mitsuko were locked in battle together. "Just get out of my way, Mitsuko!"

"What's the matter?" the light side of the demon asked, "Upset that we're perfectly even?" She wished that were true, however. The goodness of her side of the personality as partially inside of Mystelle, while all of Mystelle's negative emotions were inside of Senka.

Senka jumped back. "Well, I guess you have a point…" she dodged another of Mitsuko's clawing attacks. "In fact, you can rot in this world as far as I care."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Senka explained as a dimensional rip appeared before her, "that I'm leaving! I don't know what will happen to me if I kill you, after all, we're two sides of the same coin."

"But if you cross over you'll have to face Mystelle's comrades, including two Renegades!"

Senka laughed. "You think _I'm _not going to have a plan? You, who always does?" She reached into the void and pulled out…a bloody Thanatos.

"What the-Where am I!" Shouted Thanatos as he saw he was becoming a skeleton. Almost instantly Senka bit down on his spinal cord and flowed into him. "Marvelous," he said in Senka's voice. "I never thought I'd find a host body with greater potential than Mystelle. Anyways, have fun talking to skeletons here!" Thanatos/Senka jumped back through the gate, leaving a confused Mitsuko who didn't know what to do.

* * *

When Blade woke up later that day, her eyes took a moment to get used to the approaching night. Her robes were torn up in many places, thankfully it was still in a condition that bordered on reasonable. _Thank you, Infernia. I couldn't have softened up Thanatos without you._

A voice returned the remark. _As I said before, I only have your best interests in mind. I just wish we could find my sister and brothers before things get out of hand. If the Sword-Mages run into them before you return, they can't win. Only with a stab of your Dracostaff can they be sealed away inside of you, where those damn Zealots can't control our powers and minds. At least in here I can argue._

_Well, if Simon is the Champion of Chaos, he needs to die sooner or later, no matter what my feelings towards him are. Anyways… _"Where are we?" she asked Reagan, who was keeping watch while the others in the group were sleeping. Fighting Thanatos had taken it out of everybody.

"Oh, you're awake," Reagan said as she tossed Blade some food. "We met up with Acera's group a couple hours ago. Looks like Mystelle and Acera are just fine."

Blade let out a sigh of relief. It was good to know they were okay, even if they had only spent a little bit of time together. "Where are Joe and Lance?"

"Headed back out after they rested. Thanatos is still out there and he's weak enough now, hopefully, for the two of them to win."

"Sounds good. Where's Acera?"

"Up at the head of the camp. She seems to think she might know how to get you home."

That news filled Blade with joy. She'd be back in that conflict between Ruin, Chaos, and Order; she'd be back in that conflict between the Elementas, the Sword-Mages, and the Lightbringers. She'd be back among…Simon. "I heard you thought of something," Blade said as she reached Acera.

"Yeah," the half-elf said, "those two professors," she motioned over to Veil and Staccato, "figured that if I can cut open gateways to the underworld, then maybe I can do the same to wherever you came from."

"Sounds good. What about Mystelle? She looks pretty troubled," Blade wondered just how the half-demon was doing. She felt something was going wrong, or would go wrong.

"Don't worry. She's getting better, and the same goes for Maple. The healers at Mizuho are helping purge the demonic presence from her body. Once Mystelle comes to, then the two demons shouldn't be a problem either.

_No! _Shouted a voice. Blade jumped at the shout, but Acera didn't seem shaken at all. Nor did anybody else around. _She can't wake up now! Please, don't let that happen!_

"Did you hear that?" Blade asked while looking around.

"What do you mean?" Rahn inquired while he looked over Mystelle, "She's waking up." Mystelle was moaning as her eyes began to open.

_Only you can hear me Blade,_ the voice said. _Please, let me possess you for just a few moments!_

Blade nodded. This possessing thing was really being a problem. It'd be Hell once the other three Elementas were inside her. As her eyes turned yellow, she quickly dashed over to Mystelle just as she opened her eyes and slapped her. The blow knocked Mystelle unconscious again.

"What are you doing!" Rahn yelled as he grabbed Blade, "Are you trying to kill her?"

"Calm down!" Alran shouted as he held Rahn back. "Blade, why'd you knock her out again?"

Blade's body knocked Rahn's hands away. "I'm sorry about that. I'm the _other_ side of the demon, the light side. I'm the one that held off the evil side so you could escape."

"But why'd you bash Mystelle?" Acera asked as the collective groups looked at the scene. "You'd said she could explain when she was awake!"

"That was before Senka escaped and possessed a body. Senka now has a body that isn't Mystelle's, so I'll be pulled back into Mystelle but she won't."

"What's the problem with that?" Veil asked. "Shouldn't it be good if Mystelle doesn't carry around an evil side?"

"It's not like that. A being of pure light will be blinded by that same light. Mystelle needs Senka just as much as she needs me. If both of us die, then Mystelle can live on without either of us affecting her. If one dies while the other doesn't, then her body will plunge into ruin. She needs a being of darkness in order to come back without going schitzo!"

One of Blade's eyes turned back blue as the real Blade added her two cents to the conversation. "Funny you should mention multiple-personalities and beings of darkness."

Her blue eye turned red as Infernia's voice came through. "I suspect I could be a replacement, at least temporary. I am a goddess of Ruin, after all. That should at least mean I can replace Senka for the moment Is that okay with you Blade? You won't have my powers or your strength until I return." Blade responded with mental agreement. A power decrease was a small price to pay for saving Mystelle. "Okay. I'm going to have to stab her with my staff to transfer my consciousness into her. Once she's awake, Mitsuko will can come back too."

"I don't like this," Rahn muttered. "Stabbing Mystelle? I don't care what kind of staff that is! You'll kill her!"

Infernia/Blade/Mitsuko sighed. "If you don't let me do this, we'll have to find Senka and get her out of whatever body she's gone into. That could take a while. Please, for Mystelle's sake."

Everyone stood back, even Rahn did after some time. _God forgive me, _he thought as Blade stabbed Mystelle's leg with the sharp side of her staff. A red light flowed from the Blade's body, through the staff, and into Mystelle. A yellow light quickly followed the red, and Mystelle's eyes opened to Rahn's relief.

"It's good to be back," she groaned as she stood up. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. With Mystelle conscious and back to normal, sort of, there was only two things left to do. First, take down the bloodied Thanatos, wherever he was, and then complete a ritual and send Blade home.

* * *

"Surprised?" Thanatos/Senka sneered as she smashed Joey's skull in. "I told you two you were in a hopeless situation." He wrapped his hands around Lance's throat and squeezed. With Thanatos's hatred and desire for the power added to her negative energies, Senka had power now to even challenge Mithos. Two pathetic Renegades were no threat to her, but she couldn't let anyone know she was inside of Thanatos's head. A snap was heard as Lance's body fell to the ground, followed by the head.

Next up was killing off those two groups that had caused her so much trouble. Fully restored in terms of strength, she wasn't going to be as **merciful** as she'd been against these two.


	12. Depression and Death

_There's a being of fire in my body,_ Mystelle thought as the group headed back to check on Maple. _The Goddess of Fire!_ All those bad memories, they were coming to the surface.

"You okay?" Rahn asked when he saw her face show pained expression. "You should be glad! We're going to get rid of Senka, and you can be a full human finally."

"What? Oh, yeah. It's just that Infernia person…Elementa thing…"

Rahn stopped in front of her. "I'm worried about you. From what I heard from Flareon, that Infernia burned an entire strike force of Angels to charred masses. Who knows what she can do if she really want to?"

Infernia wished to say she only had her hosts' best interests in mind. She wished she could take partial control of Mystelle for a moment to explain to Rahn, but that wasn't right. After all that Mystelle had gone through in the past few days, she could use a break from other spirits.

"It's just that…I'm just a part of the puzzle that is made up of me, Senka, and Mitsuko. If I don't get them back before the next New Moon…I might die. We might have to let Senka live…"

Rahn looked at her with caring eyes. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

"I just wish I knew where Joey and Lance are," Acera said a little louder than needed. She'd love to gloat about this adventure with Genis, but she didn't want the constant romance. Even Staccato and Alran, the polar opposites, were starting to get along. And then there was Blade's double duty of being an Oracle and helping the Sword-Mages. Sometimes she **really **hated seeing people's past and secrets with her Exsphere.

Taffy, who was being held by Reagan, quickly whined and ran away. He had caught the whiff of death. Two deaths.

"My god…" Veil started as she saw the bodies of Lance and Joey. "Who…_what_ could do that?"

Staccato was quickly looking at the bodies, using her deductive skills to figure out what had happened. "It could take some time. I say we set up camp here tonight." The others all agreed. Something brutal had done this, and they could be next.

* * *

It was quiet in Blade's head that night as she tried to sleep. Not having Infernia with her was a radical change, and it was like sleeping in another bed. But something else was bothering her, too. "Come on, dammit. Show me! I'm an Oracle, TALK TO ME!" She was supposed to be a great Oracle, one who had the duty of sealing the Elementas. She was undead, she was supposed to be able to talk with the dead whenever she wanted to.

But she couldn't. She barely had foresight abilities and she had only been in contact with an Underworld being yesterday. And now Lance and Joey were dead and if she was a really good Oracle she should be able to talk with them. She was a terrible Oracle, and an even worse Sword-Mage.

She walked over to one of the trees nearby and split her staff into the two rapiers. She etched a quartered circle, the symbol of Chaos, on one tree. She etched a Crescent Moon, the symbol of Order, on another. And the third, she left blank. Ruin had no symbol.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hiaven asked as he turned around and saw her moving around. It was his watch at the moment, and had thought everyone else was asleep. He then noticed the symbols. "Hey, isn't that circle thing on your robes?"

"Yeah," Blade answered as she fused her rapiers back into the staff. "It's the symbol of Chaos. I put it on my robes when I joined the Travelling Sword-Mages. It's so weird. I'm a sucktastic being of Order, but aid those of Chaos supposedly even though I'm a mole and it's my duty to seal the ruinous gods inside of me. I'm so damn ed up." She sat down on a tree stump, thinking.

"So what if you are?" Hiaven asked as he sat down on another. "Still, didn't you say a friend of yours, Miki, right? She said even the damned have a rig-"

"Don't try to change my mind with her proverbs. She's been a fighter for her entire life." Blade cut him off, "Besides, I envy those of damned fate. At least they have a say-so in what they are."

Hiaven walked up to her and slapped her across the face. "Grow a spine! You think you're going through Hell, look at Mystelle! She's walking around with a being of fire in her head. Fire! The thing she fears! I understand that Rahn cares a lot for her and is giving her support and you don't have anyone here, but for god's sake! You say you're a failure as an Oracle? Fine! From what I saw in Derris-Karlan, you're an incredible fighter and can become even greater! Maybe you're not supposed to be an Oracle? Maybe you're supposed to be a member of the Sword-Mages!" He walked off, obviously pissed and needing some down time.

Blade ran after him, not knowing that someone was watching them argue. As soon as Blade left the general area, Senka moved in. Time to kill another group. She moved in, with Thanatos's blade ready. She'd finally get to kill Mystelle and free her from that pathetic human. But fate had other plans that day when she stood over Mystelle, pausing. No, better to kill someone else first, but then… she stepped on a small twig.

The snap seemed to be brutally loud, and the world stood still for what seemed like aeons. No one stirred, no one did anything that implied that someone was awake. Senka's next step was brutally quiet. It practically absorbed the sound in the forest.

Someone was awake, however. "Your second step was too quiet and took too long," said Mystelle as she stood up and turned around. Her eyes were red. "And Elementas don't sleep." Infernia woke up the mental Mystelle and quickly informed her of the situation at the speed of thought. "WAKE UP!" Mystelle shouted to everyone. They all jumped up almost instantly. They had all learned early on that heavy sleepers became corpses quick.

Mystelle quickly drew her dagger and blocked a slash by Senka. "I see you have a new dark creature," Senka sneered as she jumped to avoid a slash by Acera. "I recall someone else having red eyes…it's that Infernia creature, right?"

"You bet!" shouted Rahn as he also charged. This was Mystelle's fight, and his too. He looked back at Veil, who only had her combination lock. "Veil! Get Blade and Hiaven! We'll stand a better chance all together!"

Flareon and Reagan each entered for battle with one of Jakomay's katanas. A bow wouldn't bee much aid.

Staccato and Alran also charged forward, ready to see just what was the better warrior: the Weapon or Weapon-Hunter. Staccato's rotating arsenal of blades and explosives were already expected by Senka, as was the Pocket Watch of Doom (patent pending) and the swords. The demon let a dark aura flare up around Thanatos's body, and the mere essence of it knocked the seven fighters back.

"Here's the rules…" Senka said as she stepped back from her foes. "Essentially, you each take me on, two at a time. Except for you, Mystelle. You're last, after all, you're the best. If your two-member teams can survive for ten minutes, then the next can fill in. When Mystelle gets her chance to fight, anyone left surviving can also fight. Of course, they have to actually survive, which won't be easy."

"Why are you doing this?" Rahn asked. Senka was a merciless , she wouldn't do this without a reason.

"Reason?" Senka turned her head, as if she was a confused child. "Let's just say that Darkness is on my mind…" She saw that Staccato and Alran were the first to stand up against her. This would be fun.

"You sure about that?" Veil asked when she finally caught up to Hiaven and Blade.

"I'm sure," Blade responded. "Thanatos's body is still wrecked from my first Dragon of Dark Order. I bet a second will kill him outright. And when that's done…"

"Infernia will leave Mystelle and Mitsuko will commit Hara Kiri," Hiaven continued. "Sounds like a plan. Can we leave now?"

Little did they know that doing that would bring about Mystelle's death.


	13. Plot twist of plot twists

Please bear with me. I thought of an idea that could get a few more chapters in and couldn't resist.

Alran and Staccato looked at each other and then at the possessed Thanatos. The Angel was super-powered as it was…but with Senka's negative powers inside of it made it even worse.

"Whenever you're ready," Senka said as she stretched. Thanatos's ruined body wasn't worthwhile anymore. She needed somebody else's. With any luck, someone here wouldn't mind…

The Weapon and Weapon-hunter readied as Acera, Mystelle, Rahn, Jakomay, and Reagan stepped back. Their teammates would have to last for ten minutes, which would be nearly impossible. Hopefully Thanatos's ruined body would give them at least a little leeway.

"Go," Alran said as he and Staccato charged. Staccato slipped on a claw and drew one of her daggers while Alran had his pocket watch swinging. Alran swung it at Senka's legs and pulled, knocking the demon to the ground. As Staccato lunged in for a slash, Senka rolled to the side and clawed at the Weapon, drawing blood. It wasn't too bad, but Senka needed to inflict more damage.

As she slipped out of the pocket watch's grip, Grave spikes shot up around Staccato, slashing the woman up badly.

_I need to take the heat off her!_ Alran thought as he tackled her out of the final, lethal spike. "You okay?" He had never been this close to a Weapon before without killing it, but he had to focus on the task at hand.

Staccato nodded. She wanted to say she was slipping, but this wasn't the time. Besides, Atropos might be the only thing to stop Senka. She rolled away and slashed at the Angel, who jumped away. As Staccato stumbled, Senka grinned and lunged in. Staccato's neck was bit down again as Senka flowed in.

Thanatos slumped to the ground, exhausted and near death. Staccato looked at everyone with a demonic grin. "Finally," she said, "A worthwhile female body. And with Atropos so close to the surface, that makes me even stronger…" She tackled into Alran, claws slashing down as the hunter did his best to dodge.

* * *

_What the Hell! _Infernia shouted inside of Mystelle's head. _She can do that?_

_Yes_, Mitsuko said to the Elementa. _She must have sensed the darkness in Atropos and possessed Staccato. Now Alran is really in trouble. If he doesn't fight back, he dies. If he does fight back, Atropos may come to the surface and kill him and the rest of us anyways_

"This is all my fault," Mystelle said aloud. "I should have tried to control the darkness in my heart. Maybe then this wouldn't happen."

Rahn looked at the ground, wishing he could do something. But something bothered him, and when he looked at Acera, the same thing bothered her. Wasn't the desire to purge darkness just the desire for light to control all?

* * *

_Focus!_ Alran thought as he kicked Staccato off him. He glanced at his watch_. S#1T! Still another minute._ He was exhausted from his injuries. But one thing kept him going. That same pocket-watch. The enemy was different, but the cause was the same. He dropped his watch down in a slowly swinging motion. Staccato charged again, this time with a pair of katanas, but she slowly stopped just before she reached Alran.

"Psyche!" she shouted as the katana slashed down, but she stopped again. Her ten minutes were up. "Go ahead, Alran. Walk away. Just stew with the idea your girlfriend is mine now…"

Something snapped in Alran and he swung forward, but an arrow from Reagan, aimed at his clothes, knocked him away from the fray. "Thanks," he said as the arrow was pulled out.

Rahn stood up. He wouldn't let this continue. He would free Mystelle from this curse, but Acera and Reagan stopped him.

"Ladies first," Acera joked as the half-elves stood up to fight. Acera felt confident thanks to Reagan's healing powers, but deep down, they prayed they'd have better luck.

* * *

"Any time now…" Hiaven rasped to Blade. He was in the forest, hiding with Veil while Blade focused. Without Infernia to augment her, the Dragon of Dark Order took more time to unleash. "Acera and Reagan aren't going to do too well against that thing.

"Any second now!" Blade hissed back. She sensed the agitation in the air; she let it guide her. The Dragon was the only thing as an Oracle that Blade had mastered, and she felt good when they worked. Hopefully, this would be just another easy chant.

"It's about time you die!" Acera shouted as her weapon slashed down, but Senka caught it on the edge with her bare hand. _What the…_ Acera's pride shattered instantly. Her scythe-sword was her dearest possession, and its failure devastated her. She slumped down; right in the battle, as Staccato dodged another arrow kick slashed Reagan neatly across the gut. The archer was alive, thanks to her healing powers, but it ached terribly.

Staccato's mouth formed a wicked grin as the lifted Acera up and put her in a chokehold. "I saw you when you met Mystelle," Senka growled as the half-elf felt her throat close up. "And I wanted to kill you right then and there. Your arrogance is your greatest weakness…"

Mystelle and the others charged forward, this was just too much, but with a wave of her hand, Senka knocked them all back.

"Stay out of this! All of you will get your chance soon enough. And now, my dear little , you-"

"-Dark Order!" shouted a voice from the forest as a black beam with a dragon's head shot forward. "Die, monster!" Shouted Blade as she, Veil, and Hiaven jumped out to save their comrades.

Senka grinned. "What a joke," she remarked as she placed Acera right in front of the dragon. Her hand tightened further on the half-elf's neck. Either the dragon or the lack of air would kill her outright. After that, that damned Oracle that had saved Mystelle would die first.

But her plan never came to fruition. Blade pulled on the beam, which was still coming from her hands, and the dragon curved around Acera and smashed into Staccato right in the face, knocking the possessed Weapon to the ground.

Mystelle, weak but far from helpless, staggered over to Staccato with her dagger in hand. "You ruined my life…YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" The dagger slammed down, only to be stopped by Rahn 's weapon. Mystelle had almost doomed herself.

"Do that and Staccato dies too!" shouted Blade as she ran over with the Dracostaff in hand. She plunged it into Staccato's body as a black energy flowed into her body. "I'm okay," she said in her own voice, although she shook. "I-I had practice when Infernia was a little less friendly…Just get back over here, Infernia. I can't hold her back alone forever!"

"Alright," said Infernia as Mystelle's right eye became a shade of red. "Okay, Mitsuko, time to let Mystelle just live normal now."

"No," said Rahn before Blade's staff was raised again. "We can't do this! Mystelle needs all three sides of herself or she dies!"

Everyone looked at Mystelle, wondering if it was true. She nodded, assuring them it was. "I guess…I'll just have to cope with it." She said, sad, but relieved it was almost over. "You think you can help me, Blade? You said you had practice with this sort of thing." The Oracle nodded as well, handing her staff to Mystelle to take Senka back in and return Infernia.

A lot of people there finally were breathing easily. Alran hugged Staccato, relieved she was okay. Reagan was glad no more damage would occur to the forest. Flareon and Hiaven were glad they didn't have to fight. Blade was happy she could head home finally. Acera was depressed, but at least Senka had got what was coming to her. Rahn and Mystelle were the happiest, however. They were going to be together, without having to worry about demons or mercenary jobs. But one little sentence shattered all that joy.

"I think not," said Mitsuko as both of Mystelle's eyes turned yellow. She snatched the Dracostaff away and stabbed into Blade, taking Blade's persona through this time, not Senka, as well as the Oracle's strength. Senka was left in another exhausted body, while Mystelle, Blade, and Infernia were amazed that the Child of Light was keeping them all weak. "Now if you excuse me," Mitsuko said as she ran into to forest. "I have a light to spread over both worlds. A light only the purest can live in!"

"What's going on here!" shouted Alran as he picked up Blade's body with Senka in it. Senka was drained of energy and besides, without a mind inside to harvest negative energy from, the body was only as strong as it normally was. "I thought you were the evil side!"

Senka laughed at the mercenary's naivete. "Please, let me down and allow me to explain." Rahn did so. Everyone was looking at her. As much as they hated the dark demon, that same demon was their only lead. "You think beings of light are goody-little two-shoes, right? Mitsuko and I are the same coin, but different sides. We both want the same thing, except the exact opposite. There are two temples, hidden so deep in Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla that not even Yggdrasill or even Aska and Luna knows about them. They are the Temples of Purity, which were created by demons of light and darkness ages ago. Mitsuko, unlike me, is at her greatest when inside of Mystelle, harvesting any good energy inside of someone."

"That's why she took Blade, right? Because Blade is a being of Order and is a good person," Acera jumped in. Her dignity was shattered, but things were getting confusing and Senka wasn't a threat anymore. "She left you a worthless husk with no hatred to gather."

"Yes," Senka continued. "The Temples of Purity are both Mitsuko's and my ultimate goal. She will enter the Temple of Light Purity and destroy all Darkness across the worlds. And anyone with even a little darkness in their heart."

"But…" Veil was amazed at this fact. Everyone was selfish, or evil, or lying at least some time in his or her life. "That means countless people will die, or even worse!"

"Yes, and just like Blade said," Hiaven said, "even the damned have a right to live." They all headed off, following the direction Mitsuko ran in, but Senka called out again.

"Take me with you. I know where the Temples are. She ran in that direction to lead you away. I was wrong in what I did-"

"That's an understatement!" shouted Rahn. "Because of you, Staccato is injured beyond what we can heal here, Acera's confidence is shattered, and Mitsuko holds all the high cards!" He slapped Blade's body across the face.

"No," Jakomay said. He had been quiet the whole time, thinking. They needed all the help they could get. Life wasn't just dark and light, despite the fact that the two demons were. "'The damned have a right to live.' I think now would be a good time for the Child of Darkness to redeem herself." Senka ran after him. She had made a mistake and because of that, all Darkness in the world would be gone. She had to undo her actions, even if it meant putting white into her pitch-black soul. Little did she know it wasn't as pure as she thought.


	14. Hearts of Darkness

The first part of this chapter has characters from my Sword-Mages story, but don't worry. They don't actually come to Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant.

On a planet far from Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla in an entirely different dimension, in a city trapped in a frozen wasteland, there was a black-robed man. His face had the lines of age, but that did not stop him from searching every single tome of magic he had for information about Blade.

His name was Enteria Ciercin, the descendant of Balteria Ciercin, the Cursed Necromancer. But where Balteria had been a great warrior as well as Necromancer and Cleric, Enteria was bound to aid from the sidelines as Simon and the other Sword-Mages fought. "What do we have here…" Enteria said as something in one of his books caught his eyes. "It's a start. At least I can talk to Blade, provided that she's asleep." He sat down, focusing, but a voice cut him off.

"No," said a female voice as Enteria turned around. Standing there was a young, red haired, woman in black garb resembling that of an assassin. She looked as normal as a human 18 year-old assassin could, save for the fact she wasn't human. The dead giveaway was that her pupils were white while her scleras were pitch-black. "Might as well send me so you can do more research."

"Miki-" Enteria said, but the Darkinarki cut him off.

"Please humor me, Enteria. Simon and the rest could take a break from me, anyways."

The Necromancer looked at her, then nodded. "Fine. Lie down so you can Astral Project to where Blade should be."

Miki nodded. Something told her that Blade could use a hand, despite the fact she was a being of Order.

* * *

After two hours of travelling without any trace of Mitsuko, the group was beginning to mistrust Senka further, if that was possible. Most notably were Rahn, Acera, Staccato, and Alran, for varying reasons. At least Veil, Hiaven, Reagan, and Flareon were less than hostile to everything she said.

"I say we rest for the night," Acera said. She needed to cool her head after failing hopelessly against Senka, and Staccato needed to as well. Everyone agreed; the night had shaken them from their sleep and they needed to have a good night's sleep.

The last thing that Senka said as Blade's body drifted to a weak sleep was eight pairs of angry eyes staring at her. The first thing she saw in her head was a pair of inverted eyes that were also angry.

"You're not Blade," said the woman.

"And last I checked," Senka sneered as her mental projection walked away from the person, "I was alone in the Oracle's body."

"What the!" the woman shouted as she ran up and grabbed Senka, "What do you mean?"

Senka sighed. Looks like even her mental form wasn't going to get any sleep.

* * *

"So you're a being of ultimate darkness?" Miki asked as Senka finished her story. She chuckled a little bit, obviously amused. "And here I thought I was the only one."

Senka snapped at that last sentence. "Pure darkness? A mortal can't have that and live!" Yet Miki's soul glowed with an eerie pure-black color. "But…the negative energies should have killed you!"

"Then why am I still alive?" Miki asked. She let out a frustrated grunt. "Guess it's _my_ turn to tell a story. When I was born, the Darkinarki elders feared what I could do with a soul like mine. They wanted me to fight it, so I battled the darkness in my soul for years as a child as I was trained to be an assassin. But in the end, that darkness was part of what I was. Denying it was making me weaker than what I could be. After a journey in the land of demons, I embraced the darkness in me completely…and then it happened."

"What?"

Miki smiled. "The darkness embraced me as well. By accepting what I really was, I purged the lies from my mind, body, and especially, soul. The light that I tried to force on my spirit, the light that was actually corrupting me, emptied out and by doing that, I became pure, incorruptible. I could do whatever I wanted, even if it seemed a creature of darkness would die before committing that act. And that is what you must become: something that doesn't lie to itself."

Senka laughed. "You think I lie to myself?"

"It is easy to do that once you can lie to your other half. Mitsuko has completely given herself to the Light, yet you hesitate to be pure in your own way. You decided to fight Mystelle last because you've grown attached to your host. You deny it even now. You deny the idea that you don't live up to the title of 'Child of Darkness.'"

"That's a lie!" Senka shouted as she struck at the assassin, who dodged at the last possible second without flaw. "You think I care about anyone else? You think I'm some damn do-gooder?"

Miki dodged another punch, turned around, and slammed Senka into a headlock. "Once again, you're lying. You strike at me because deep down, you know what I say is true and you think my death can stop the doubt. You call upon negative energies of those around you because you doubt your own. I see your black Soul-Flame just as you see mine. It is black as night, but not as pure as the night." She tightened her grip on the demon. "If you really want to be what you're meant to be, I can help. But you must accept that what I say is true! Only then can you save the Dark!"

"Ok-okay! Okay! Just let me loose!" Miki did so. Senka looked at her, wondering if the assassin was speaking the truth. Deep down, she felt hatred for her current adversary. Deeper down, Senka knew she was not yet what she should be. "What must I do? And don't make me regret my action."

Miki smiled and walked away. "I don't know. Everyone becomes pure in an entirely different way. But now you've accepted what you have to do. You will find a way to expel the little light that is destroying you when you are not looking for it. Once you do that, you can face Mitsuko and humble her. Mystelle can't do it alone. And remember: once you do that, you must keep Mystelle safe until Mitsuko no longer is hostile." Miki nodded and vanished, leaving a single piece of paper on the ground.

_This is absurd,_ Senka thought as she picked up the paper. _I don't have white in my soul_. She looked at the paper and gasped.

_Yes you do_, it read. Senka looked down at her hand that held the paper, seeing a black aura surround her; it was her Soul-Flame. At least that's what Miki called it. But her skin crawled as she saw her hand glow with the brightness of a sun. "I guess I'm not as flawless as I thought."

* * *

When she woke up, she saw that the rest of the group was gone. Once again, there was a note. They had headed off after her.

She was alone, and that terrified her. There was no hatred in the woods, no resent. She felt weak as she read the note. The others didn't want her. They'd find Mitsuko on their own, leaving her to fend in a worthless body.

But she wasn't alone, as a single body, hopelessly bloody, crawled towards her.

"For what you did to me, I WILL kill you!" Thanatos Aurion growled. Senka's possession had all but killed him, but he would have his revenge. He could sense that this was indeed Senka. It would cost him his life, but honor was a stake. He struggled to his feet and threw his Flamberge at Senka, who turned a moment to late. The Flamberge smashed into her, trapping her to the side of a tree. If it weren't for Blade's unusual gift of not needing blood, the demon would be dead already. Thanatos staggered to her side ready for the killing blow.


	15. Path of the Light

I couldn't resist. I put in a little bit about how Miki became a commando. Also, I have to go back on my "no killing anyone else rule", because I forgot about Thanatos. So sorry. :( I don't own Tales of Symphonia or Darkstalkers.

Miki's eyes snapped open again in Enteria's room. She stood up, obviously woozy.

"How'd it go?" Enteria asked as he looked up from one of his books.

Miki froze. Enteria was starting to be like a father to Simon, and Simon and Blade were starting to be something more. He might try to do something stupid, and Simon was known for doing stupid things. "She's fine, Enteria. She's with a…friend." She walked out of the room and headed to her own. She could use a good night's sleep.

_How is Senka going to do it?_ Miki thought as she rolled in her bed. _It was hard enough for me to obtain purity, and Senka doesn't seem like the demon that doesn't have ulterior motives. Still, she's the only one who can challenge Mitsuko._

Miki remembered quiet well her own personal battles to find out just what she really was. Nine years of training, honing her skills, becoming able to beat a man four times her superior in strength, and how she still wasn't…complete.

She had spent years practicing meditation and prayer, hoping to expel the darkness of her body. It wasn't unusual for a Darkinarki to have at least some black in their soul, after all, that meant they stemmed power from the void and black holes. But to be practically set at birth to 100 percent, that just didn't seem right.

Nine years into training, she had learned just how wrong her soul was, and tried to remove it. When she had tried to no avail, she had been sent to the land of demons, Makai. It was there she had been further trained by a werewolf for a whole year, learning from his mistakes that you couldn't deny who you were. It was then, once you accepted what you were, that you could change.

But Senka was different. Just accepting what she was would not give Senka the power, and even if the demon got that power, Miki truly wondered if what she had done was right. After all, Senka had tried to kill Alran and the others less than a day ago.

_Life's Hell,_ she thought as she finally drifted off, _Watcha' gonna do?

* * *

_

Thanatos grinned as his charred hands wrapped them around Blade/Senka's throat. "Scream for me," he growled as the grip tightened.

This was terrible. Just when she was starting to undo what Mitsuko was trying to do, when she was trying to attain true darkness, **this** happens! "Rot in Hell, Angel," she hissed back. She was pinned to the tree, but she wouldn't give in. Perhaps her despair was what was corrupting her. Miki said she'd find purity when not looking for it, anyways. Things were going black, however, and that really sucked.

But an arrow slammed into Thanatos's head, finally killing one of the monsters that had driven the situation to this. Only two people in the group could fire an arrow that well: Reagan, and…

"Maple!" shouted Senka as Maple pried the True Flamberge out of her body. Thanks to the fact Blade's heart didn't beat, she was fine. "Thanks. I didn't know the healers worked that fast."

"They do, they do," said the non-vampire Maple. "So how are you doing…Senka?" Senka's eyes held shock as she looked at Maple. "The animals told me what happened. You're a manipulative , you know that?" She punched Blade's body right in the gut, which caused Senka to double over in pain. Amazingly, she then helped the demon up. "But Mitsuko seems to be even more manipulative. Now let's go. Looks like we're going to have to find the others."

* * *

"What the Hell are you doing!" shouted Infernia inside of Mystelle's head. She, Blade, and Mystelle were all being beat back by Mitsuko alone. Last the Elementa had checked, Mitsuko had wanted Mystelle free. 

"Amazing how even a god can be so foolish," Mitsuko remarked as her mental form beat Infernia to a pulp as her real body crept through a village. The Dracostaff plunged into each sleeping villager, who stood up with a blank expression. "I am cleansing the world of hatred and evil," Mitsuko grinned. "It is amazing how this simple staff can take into it a Goddess, or even more amazingly, copy a small part of my essence and implant that as a controlling factor into simple villagers. I do need servants once the impure die."

"You're as bad as Senka!" howled Mystelle. "All this time I thought you wanted only to care for other people and ensure love and peace! "

"No, she's worse," Blade stated. "Senka's actions were straight forward. Aggressive, but at least predictable. Purity is a wonderful thing, if that's what you're supposed to be. For a single person, obtaining purity is a great achievement, but for two entire planets to be like that…it's not right."

"You say that," Mitsuko chuckled as she finished up with the entire village, "Because you are also not pure. But I can help that." Her mental form moved close to Blade's, with a white dagger drawn. She stabbed it into Blade's arm as the Oracle screamed in agony. "Now let's see just what happens when I take a dead body…" Mitsuko continued as she created an exact duplicate of Blade's body from a graveyard. Because Blade was technically dead anyways, it wasn't hard to manipulate a cadaver and actually change its shape to mimic the Oracle's. Mitsuko plunged the staff in. "You have the potential to be my lieutenant, Blade. I force it upon you!"

The copy's eyes opened up, showing pure-white eyes. The Oracle stood up in clothes exactly like those before, but while Blade had originally a white aura and then a red one (from Infernia's fire influence) this one seemed to have a "negative black" color. It resembled white, but instead is seemingly absorbed and destroyed any black auras around it.

"You monster!" screamed Infernia as she lunged at Mitsuko's mental form. "She is my master! I won't let you do this!" Mitsuko laughed again and kicked Infernia's legs out.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Mitsuko said as she trapped Infernia in mental shackles. "Mainly because even in your weakened state, I require much strength to kill you. And I have plans for that strength. Begone!" Mitsuko shouted as a fiery being fell from her physical body, writhing in agony. The copy moved towards it, and Infernia froze. Blade was in there, somewhere. She couldn't hurt her, even if Blade had imprisoned her in the first place. The Fire Elementa ran away like a coward, trying to sense the demonic powers of Senka. She knew, just like Miki in dimensions away, that only the darkness in Senka could challenge Mitsuko.

"Guess that just leaves you and me," Mitsuko said as she held onto Mystelle's chin. "Of course, I can't get rid of you. After all, it's bad enough my days are numbered. I guess I'll just have to take Senka into me before we three die."

"You yourself admitted you couldn't beat Senka in a face-to-face fight," Mystelle said. This was too much. This was all happening because of her! She would have killed herself years ago if she knew this would happen. "What makes you think you can control Senka when you absorb her!" Tears were beginning to form around her eyes. Blade, Rahn, Acera, all the others were or would be suffering terrible fates because of her. And even if Mitsuko would be beaten, there was always the other half of the demon.

Mitsuko laughed. "Normally yes, but as I place copies of my soul into others, my own power increases and I gather off their positive energies. Yggdrasill himself would not dare attack me once my quest is near completion, even if he knew what was going on. And then there is the care you have for your damn little friends…" Mystelle was on the ground, sobbing now. "You complete me, Mystelle. Even now, you have pity for yourself, but no hatred. Inside me, Senka would not find any additional strength and she is **impure**, **impure** like every other damned enemy I have. I could snap her in two in a moment. Now why don't we go to the next village and see what feelings of care and love we can harvest there?" She then looked at the depressed host, feeling pity. "I know this is hard for you, Mystelle, but it's the only way for Darkness to be gone."

The demon walked off with the mimic in tow, Dracostaff in hand to control anyone they found. But she took her time. A new moon wasn't for another month, and she needed Senka to come. Besides, there were feelings of love in certain members of the group. Rahn and Mystelle were the big one, but there were also feelings in Staccato and Alran. She'd manipulate the others when the time came. The only thing that bothered her was how to stretch out her actions so she'd face Senka on the day before the New Moon. Senka, without any negative feelings from any villager she had seen in her voyage, would be at her weakest. Meanwhile, Mitsuko would continue her search for power until at long last, she'd have the power to travel to other worlds, and crush those "Sword-Mages" that Blade was a member of.

Nothing could stop her.


	16. Depression and Death II

Everyone was looking at the depressed Acera as they finally decided to seek refuge in village one night later. The people were weird, and didn't understand what the group said, but seemed harmless and gave them rooms. Acera, however, was practically not responding to anything anyone said for an entirely different reason. A few days ago she was starting to get back to normal, but now there wasn't anything to focus her depression on.

"She caught the blade…with her hand…" she muttered as she lay in her bed, looking at the ceiling. "I couldn't do anything against her. And when she was in Blade…weak and helpless…asleep…I didn't kill her."

"You know what that would mean," Chan Yow said as he stayed hidden in the shadows, resting. "Mystelle told you herself that they all had to be rejoined with Senka and Mitsuko or they'd all die!"

"Why don't you just crawl away! It wasn't like you were any help out there!" Acera shouted. For a moment, Chan thought she'd at least regained some emotion. Then the dragon realized it was just hatred the half-elf had been bottling up.

Chan faded out. The path Acera was going down, no one could follow.

* * *

Rahn let the cool night air rush by him, clearing his head as he ran down an alleyway. _I should've caught on sooner!_ he thought as he kicked a stone away. _Mystelle, I let you down. I've got to get you back, no matter what!_ Right now he was stalking one of those strange villagers. If he had learned anything in his mercenary days, it was that paranoia wasn't a crime, sort of…

"What do we have here?" Rahn asked to no one in particular as he noticed that a small group of villagers were searching around the village armory. As a number of nasty looking swords were taken out, the mercenary slid back into the shadows. No point in fighting them alone, and at least they didn't know he knew. But as he quickly crept back, he accidentally brushed up against a windchime, which rattled around in the night.

The villagers stirred and turned around, listening. "Zolti camo?" one asked as he grabbed a hand axe.

"Inre camo…" another answered as he led the others in charging back.

Rahn slipped back through the door just before the horde rounded the corner into the street where the building was. He quickly lit a number of candles, waking up Hiaven and the rest. They quickly converged in the main room.

"Where's Acera?" Rahn asked as he quickly shut the candles off again. Best to make the villagers think they were asleep again.

"Still in her room," Veil answered. "With both her and Staccato in the conditions they're in, I think that's the safest places for them."

Hiaven slipped on his blades; he was grimacing. "Why is it every time we try to sleep, we have to wake up again?" He looked out a window in a stealthy manner. "Damn. At least forty already. We're not getting out that way."

"I still don't get it," Flareon said as he checked to upstairs for any exit points. There weren't any. "Why attack us now?"

"It's because our guard should be down. And maybe they wanted us boxed in," said a voice as everybody turned.

"Staccato!" shouted Alran, "you should be in bed! You're still in no condition to fight!"

"Yes," she grunted as her legs gave out as she fell on a chair, "but I'm still a researcher. Something's going on and I might as well help even the odds." She took out her purse and opened it; tossing her simplistic firearms to everyone. "The strength of blades won't help us now, but maybe gunpoweder can." She also picked a few flash grenades. "Reagan, toss one of those out there."

The half-elf, who was closest to the door, picked one of them up, looking at the strange weapon. "Pull the pin and throw the container, right?" Staccato nodded. She opened to door and gasped. The villagers were practically on them now, but a flashbang tossed by Reagan disoriented them.

Out ran Reagan, Flareon, Hiaven, Alran, Veil, and Rahn with guns blazing. The first thirty-six villagers fell as the group made every single bullet count, but more continued to come. Their white eyes seemingly drilled holes through the six fighters as they hacked down even more. The things were worse than the zombies Ivory had sent at them. At least zombies stayed down when decapitated.

* * *

"You've got to shrug this off!" shouted Staccato as she shook Acera a little too violently. "The others need you and I'm not in a condition to be fighting!"

"What's the point," she whispered. "I couldn't save Kym and Lyla's gone. I couldn't save Mystelle and Blade's gone. I can't do anything…"

"That's a lie!" Staccato shouted as she heard screams of her comrades outside. They were screams of capture, not death, she thought. She prayed she was right. "You beat Chryl on your own! You saved the group from a horde of zombies! And now we need you again! I don't dare risk letting Atropos free, dammit, and if you don't do something right now, people are going to suffer Kym's fate!"

_It's not reaching her! _thought Chan as he hid away. _I think I might have to step in and manipulate a bit. I hate doing this, though._

"What the!" said Acera as she looked around. She was back in that cave from all those years ago…Kym…"This can't be real," she said aloud, walking forward, then running. But by God, it was! Except it was different now. There were strange people around Kym, with weapons. The poor girl was backing up in fear, hopelessly outnumbered. "YOU LET HER ALONE, YOU ING BASTARDS!" Her anger and hatred ripped apart her self-pity as her fingertips glowed white again. "DIE, YOU DAMN FREAKS!" Kym ducked to the ground as Anti-Necro God Cannons streaked from her fingers, blasting through the villagers' heads and continuing to travel in paths of death.

Then the vision ended. She was back outside, around the dead bodies of the villagers, her friends on the ground. "Nice job," said Chan as he appeared before her. "I knew you had it in you." He faded away again as Staccato staggered outside. She grinned, silently thanking him.

"You okay?" she asked as she helped Acera carry the others back inside the house.

"Yeah," Acera said as she sat down back on her bed. "And I've got a lot of people to thank for it. I just wish I knew what those villagers were after."

* * *

"So Acera overcame her depression?" Mitsuko said aloud as she and her Blade doppelganger sat out on a mountainside. "Seems I have to actually worry about someone now. Blade!"

The copy stood by her, ready for a command.

"Let's see if Acera has the heart to kill you with one of those God Cannons. Head down there tomorrow and test their power. I want to make sure they're worth my time."


	17. Union of Darkness and Fire

I don't own Tales of Symphonia

"Why are you doing this?" Senka asked as she and Maple continued their pursuit of Mitsuko. "The others left me, yet you stay. Why?"

Maple glared at the demon in Blade's body. "Because wanting my forest saved is pretty selfish, even if it doesn't seem like it. And I want that forest saved. Now come on, I think I hear someone."

"Not someone," Senka corrected, "something." Without a weapon and without learning how to use those accursed Dragons of Dark Order, she had to settle on grabbing a nice sized stick, but she raised the weapon without need, for the person that came running was a fiery creature. "Infernia…how nice of you to come here," she said. "Maple, I don't believe you've been introduced. This is Infernia, the Fire Elementa of Ruin. She's-"

"I know who she is," Maple remarked. "But I thought you couldn't take physical form without a body…"

Infernia grunted as she picked up another stick, sharpening one side of it. "I can, I'm just hopelessly weak," the elemental creature explained. "And we're stuck in an ever worsening situation now, and our only hope is this damned demon." She motioned towards Senka.

"So what's my other half been up to, then?" Senka asked as she sat down. After tracking the others for half a day, a break would be nice.

"Terrible things, things I don't think even you're capable of," Infernia said as she finished up on her mockery of the Dracostaff. "She's using the original Dracostaff to copy her soul and force it into others, purging the darkness and making them good little slaves. Rahn and the others ran into them last night, but they're okay." She tossed the finished fake towards Senka, who caught it. "And what she did to Blade… it's not right! Forcing her into a new body, making her some kind of second-in-command, Blade's worse than when I first met her!"

"What's the staff for?" Maple asked, wondering if Infernia was trying to do what she thought she was trying to do. "Are you going to put yourself in Blade's original body?"

The Elementa nodded before continuing. "Yeah. Believe it or not, Blade was a terrible person before she absorbed me and joined the Sword-mages…even if it was just to be a mole. If Mitsuko had offered her the position of assistant for this little action about five months ago, Blade would have taken part willingly. Just as Blade was able to make me less hostile towards the group…I helped Blade not be some extremist fighter. Just as she made me humane, I gave her a heart. And now…she's an abomination…worse than even you, Senka."

Senka scoffed at this last part. "I see that even beings of Ruin can be changed, which means I'm better than you. You should know that once Mitsuko is dealt with, I will be heading towards the Temple of Dark Purity to do the opposite of what Mitsuko wanted."

"Except if you really wanted to," Maple remarked with a grin on her face, "you wouldn't have told us that."

"Sad but true," Infernia said, "sad but **very** true. Now Senka, you're going up against something you can't dream of, and maybe even at full power you can't win. So I trust you to use me for the best. The fake Dracostaff will let you absorb me, but don't think I can't take control if you get out of hand. You're not dealing with Mystelle or Mitsuko now. You're dealing with me."

Senka nodded. Anything to get back on the road and hunt Mitsuko down. She stabbed the stick into Infernia, and the fiery creature disappeared. When Senka looked at Maple, one of her eyes glowed red while the other was black. "Let's get going," Senka said as she took off towards the village, Maple quickly running after her.

* * *

"So much evil," Blade mused as she walked into the village. The villagers were still attacking the group, yet Acera's newfound courage and Anti-Necro God Cannons easily gave the warriors the advantage. "My lady sent me for good reason. It seems I'm needed here."

As Alran, Hiaven, Veil, Jakomay, Acera, Reagan, and Rahn turned to see her, they knew something wasn't right. "How'd you find us?" asked Alran, not knowing it was the real Blade, not Senka.

"It was easy. I figured you'd go to the first village you'd see." _More carelessness, _Blade thought, _they must think you're Lady Mitsuko's other half_. "I see you've dealt with the villagers quiet well."

Rahn didn't even look at her when he walked back into the building. "I'm checking on Staccato," he said to Reagan as he walked away. "Tell me when she leaves."

"He hates me that much, eh?" Blade remarked as she walked to the group.

"He has good reason, as do I," Acera snapped. "You're the whole reason Mitsuko was able to do what she did!"

"I'm touched," Blade sneered as she walked up to Acera, looking the half-elf in the eyes. "I see you've regained your determination to fight. How wonderful."

But something bothered Acera, as well as Chan Yow. _Do you hear that? _Chan asked as he stayed in her mind.

_Yes,_ remarked Acera. _I couldn't possibly hear it without you…but it's the sound of a heartbeat…from Senka's body. That can only mean this is a fake_. "I'm going back into the building," she said, walking away from Blade as well. "I could use a break from fighting." She looked at Jakomay Flareon before going back in. Having used the Horizon Trigger back home…he'd learned to sense what evil was. Whatever Senka felt like, this new body didn't have that feel.

"Spectacular party," Blade continued as she walked into another building and seeing it also had a few beds. "I'll sleep here, if anybody doesn't object."

"Come on," Hiaven motioned to the others, "Let's have a look around. I'm pretty sure the villagers are gone now.

"I'll stay," Jakomay declined, "Don't want Senka to get out of hand again." He pulled up a chair, flew around Senka's building, and then sat down by the front door. "There aren't any other ways out. I'll yell if she decides to cause trouble." His said this a little too loudly, however.

* * *

"Why didn't you blow the doppelganger's cover?" Chan asked as he talked again to Acera as she walked through the inn to Rahn's room.

"Because we don't know yet what is going on. The element of surprise is importa-" Acera started, but Blade, who had been hiding behind the door, slipped out and put her hand around Acera's mouth.

"Teleporation. Incredible technique that Mitsuko gave me," Blade hissed. "Besides, can't let you warn Rahn, can we?"

* * *

_Damn you Senka!_ Thought Rahn Agle as he laid down on his bed, _And damn you too, Mitsuko! You've both ruined Mystelle's life!_

"That isn't quiet true, Rahn," said a voice as he spun around. Like her pawn, Mitsuko had teleported into the building as well. "Her life's been terrible anyways."

His eyes held a cold look as he reached for his sword. It wasn't there. "What do you want…" he said, trying to back away from her.

"I'm here because you care about Mystelle." Mitsuko answered. "To be honest, so do I. The problem is that there is too much darkness in the world now. But there are certain…individuals…that would willingly give themselves up to right these wrongs. Are you one of those people?" She slowly moved towards him, almost in a serene and caring manner.

"The only wrong I see now," Rahn returned as he slipped around and put his bed between the two of them, "is your flawed ideal of perfection. Individual people can be pure in the way you want…but not two entire worlds. That means billions die for reasons they don't even understand!"

Mitsuko grinned before starting to step on the bed. "I came to you…Rahn…because you care too much for Mystelle to even think about raising a hand against her. Do you really want to side with damned creatures over her?" As Rahn tried to dash to the side, she grabbed him, holding him close. "Be there with me when Light spreads over Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla; be there with me when I strip Senka of her power so I can control her; and you will have your Mystelle back." She pressed her lips to his, and kissed.


	18. The Magic of the Moon

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I don't own Tales of Symphonia. In response to one review question, Lloyd and Co. will not appear in this. First of all, I never got past meeting Regal for the first time and I'd never do justice to the characters. Second of all, I felt there had to be more than one group fighting in Sylverant.

"You here that?" Blade asked Acera as she held the half-elf back from Rahn's door, "It's the sound of a man giving into the woman he loves. Do you really want to stop that?"

_I've got to think fast to save Rahn!_ Acera thought as Blade's grip tightened. _Chan, if there was ever a time for your help, NOW IS THAT TIME!_ She felt her wings forming again, creating spikes on the back which shot into and impaled Blade's body and freeing her. "Staccato, Jakomay, get your asses in here!" she shouted as she tackled the Oracle's fake body, attacking as hard as she could.

* * *

In a few moments, Staccato and Flareon ran into the room, seeing the two fight. Things were confusing, but Acera quickly pointed at the door to Rahn's room. The two ran over to it, but it was locked. _But…_ Staccato thought, _these rooms don't have locks… what the hell is going on here?_

Jakomay pounded into the door, but Rahn and Mitsuko heard nothing of the screams and pounding.

* * *

_Can I really do this?_ Rahn asked himself as he began to return Mitsuko's embrace. No! This wasn't Mystelle! This was somebody more sinister than Senka! Mystelle was in there, but there was too much at stake and he couldn't just give in because of personal feelings! He pushed her away, an enraged look on his eyes.

Mitsuko returned his angry stare with her own. "So weak," she mused as one of Staccato's explosives blasted the door down. She turned towards the others and smiled. "It looks like Acera's more capable than I thought. Therefor, I give this skirmish to you." She bowed down in a mocking manner before looking back up at them. "But not without cost. Blade, I think we have what we need here." In an instant, she, a somehow fully-recovered Blade, and, surprisingly, Rahn vanished.

"YOU'LL GET YOURS, YOU FREAK!" Acera shouted. She was really starting to hate Mitsuko more than Senka now. Manipulating Blade, Mystelle, and now Rahn just for her ideals. She pounded her fist into the wall. "Dammit!"

Jakomay and Staccato placed their hands on each of Acera's shoulders. "We'll get her," Staccato said, "and we'll set things right."

* * *

"You have to fight harder!" shouted Maple as she and Senka battled. "You have to get used to Blade's body and her abilities!"

Senka sneered as she jumped back from the forest dweller. This was their second break, and she still had no skill in this damned body. Even with Infernia offering assistance, this body was just too different than anything she'd ever fought in. "This isn't helping at all. We should just wait for the Full Moon, dammit!"

Maple stopped, puzzled. "What will a full moon do?"

Senka groaned. Another thing to explain. "My powers will be at their peak during a full moon, which is ironic because it's brightest then. Whatever the case, I might be able to create a body for myself then. The only question is who to base it off of. Even then, I'd just have to make a body similar to someone else's, which means similar abilities."

"What about Mitsuko?" Infernia asked as Senka's left eye turned red. "Will her power be maxed out then too?"

"Yeah. And if Mitsuko is strong enough then, she'll probably make a body for herself then. Except she'll probably be capable of actually making one and not just basing it off someone. But that will mean that-"

"-that Mystelle will be freed then," Maple finished while grinning. "And you said you hated her!" This last line caused Senka to blush in embarrassment while Infernia laughed in Senka's head.

"Don't get any funny ideas!" the Child of Darkness snapped. "Like I said before, we're going back to being enemies once this is all over!" She grunted in frustration as she stood up again, heading back on Mitsuko's trail. "I see a village up ahead. Let's take a look."

* * *

"So what do we do?" Alran asked as he looked around the group. "Mitsuko keeps plugging away at our ranks, and we're not even sure if we can defeat her."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Reagan asked as she helped treat Acera's wounds. "The fact is that she's got to move fast, because from what Senka said, the Temple of Light's Purity is pretty far away."

"We're the only ones that can stop her…" Veil said as she looked into the sky. The moon's light was nearing its peak. In another day or two, there'd be a full moon.

"Mind if we cut in?" Maple asked as she and Senka came into the clearing to join the others. Acera, as if on reflex, grabbed her scythe-sword, but seeing Infernia's red eye made her relax. There was no way that Mitsuko would let Infernia try to sway Blade's actions, so it had to be Senka.

"Good to see you're here," Staccato said as Senka walked up to the others. "And incidentally, is there anything you haven't told us about Mitsuko and her Temple?" Even in her weakened state, her researcher's mind was as active as ever, as was Veil's.

"What gives you that idea?" Senka returned as she sat down and cracked her neck.

"Because she wouldn't have taken Rahn without good reason, and you know you're other half better than anyone else," Veil continued. She suspected where Staccato was going with this.

"So," Senka said, almost to herself, "Mitsuko's going all the way…" she looked at her former enemies, noticing that they were still in the dark. "A thousand apologies, but it seems Mitsuko is raising the ante by quiet a bit."

"What do you mean?" Hiaven asked. "She's already going to purge the worlds of all darkness, what else can she gun for?"

"She's going to ascend to the level of God," Senka explained, "and not like you, Infernia. From what you said, you merely became a god when you absorbed part of the Sage's Stone of your world, along with the other Elementas. When Mitsuko reaches that tier, she'll have to tear down the worlds as we know, reshaping them in her image. Of course, she's going to need people to repopulate the worlds," she chuckled a little before continuing, "and obviously Mystelle will be on the list. And who else to be the perfect match than Rahn? From what I've heard and seen from his actions, he cares a lot for her."

"You still haven't explained how she's going to become a god," Jakomay pressed. "And besides, how would you know about all this?"

"Because I'd be doing a similar thing in Mitsuko's place!" Senka snapped. "As I was saying, Mitsuko would let Mystelle and Rahn live, using herself as a shield from the Temple's Light. Afterwards, they'd be two of the only people around… and the only ones that would know what happened. After that, Mitsuko really doesn't care what happens to her, because the darkness will be gone. I could be wrong about that, but sooner or later Mitsuko's going to reach the limits of her expansion, and begin manipulating what Rahn does… because if she dies, then Mystelle dies. And he'd do anything to keep her alive…"

"…Even following every single command Mitsuko gives in return for Mystelle's life," Infernia interrupted. "She'll tear down the Gods of the Old World, blackmail Rahn into being a servant, and place herself and Blade…"

"…At the top…" Acera finished. "This is madness, and with that teleporting thing, she'll reach the temple in a matter of hours."

"Teleporting!" Senka shouted. "Didn't know she could do that…but if she can…then maybe I can too…provided there's a Full Moon. Then maybe…"

"What?" Staccato asked.

"Oh, nothing," Senka said. "Since I probably will be able to get to the temple once the moon is full, I say we just stay here and wait. Any objections?" The others shrugged, agreed, or just sat there. "Good. Now if you excuse me, then I have sleeping to do." She walked into the group's building, found an empty room, and then fell asleep. Or that was her plan.

* * *

_You're planning something…_ Infernia prodded as she talked with Senka in Blade's head. _And it seems sinister._

_You don't know what I'm planning_, Senka said. _And I'm praying Mitsuko doesn't either. I just wish…_

_What?_

_Nothing_. Infernia sighed and walked away, closing her thoughts off from the Child of Darkness. _There's just something about being in Blade… that makes me really question who I am. Miki's right. I really don't live up to my title_.

* * *

"Lady Mitsuko," Blade asked as she carried an incapacitated Rahn, "why did you bring him with us?"

"Because I am a demon of my word, my dear Blade," Mitsuko said. "Rahn will have his Mystelle back, that much I do promise. In a few days, I'll even leave Mystelle for good and create a body for myself."

"But won't that mean you, Senka, and Mystelle will die?" Blade asked. Her lady was very mysterious, but her duty _was_ to serve her. Only then would evil be destroyed.

"Don't worry about Senka or me, Blade," Mitsuko said while smiling. "Your staff's powers are impressive. I'm sure just leaving a small part of myself in Mystelle will work fine. And for Senka… I'm just not worried at all. Once I have a body of my own, she'll see just what she's up against."


	19. Deep Breaths Before the Battle

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

"She's been like that all day," Reagan told Acera as they looked at Senka. They were still in the village; after all, in just a few more hours there would be a full moon and they could just teleport to the Temple of Light Purity. Senka was sitting down, meditating in the village square, as she had been since yesterday.

"Wonder why," Acera scoffed as she walked up. "Hellooo?" she asked as the demon opened her eyes.

"Yes?" Senka asked, obviously annoyed.

"Why are you just sitting around here?" Acera asked. "What's to stop Mitsuko from just activating the temple's light right now?"

"Because," Senka responded, "she needs me alive, and she'll have to wait until I get there and absorb me before she purges Sylverant and Tethe'Alla. Now if you excuse me, I need to continue training." She closed her eyes and said nothing more.

"Freaky lady," Acera said as she walked away.

"She seems to not hold as much of a grudge against us anymore," Reagan said as she walked back to the others. "Then again, maybe she's just biding her time to go and do the opposite of what Mitsuko wants. Who's to say she won't?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Acera said. "But at least Infernia's in there with her. The Elementa should keep things under control, but I wonder how she's training Senka's mind and soul."

* * *

"Keep it up!" Miki shouted as her mental form continued attacking Senka's. The Darkinarki had came back to offer a hand in training, and Senka was learning just how good Miki was.

The training was not unsimilar to one Miki had gone through when she was young, and also one of the first things she trained Simon and his friend Brian to do: dodge every attack sent at them, but keep at least one foot placed in the designated area. The demon was quickly learning to fight well on her own, and the confidence was showing.

"So whose form will you be taking when the Full Moon comes?" Infernia asked from the sidelines. She'd wished she could help against Mitsuko, but she knew the others would have their hands full getting Blade under control and an Elementa could be of help.

"Don't know," Senka said as she ducked a lightning-fast kick. "Don't even know who's fighting style I'd work best with either."

"Well," Miki said as she backed off, letting Senka catch her breath, "at least your Soul-Flame is starting to get rid of the white. With any luck, you'll have a pure soul when you face off against Mitsuko. And with my training, you should be able to at least match Mitsuko's power, since she's just been gaining power from other people for strength." Miki then sat down, as if something bothered her. "I just wish there's something else I could do besides help you out here. I could probably snap Mitsuko in two-"

"And kill Senka AND Mystelle when you do." Infernia interrupted. "Best to let Senka just fight on her own."

"Sad but true," Senka said, "Sad but **very** true."

* * *

Blade looked down on the village again as she jumped into the air, landing without a sound at the outskirts. Maple spun around, however sensing the Oracle's presence. Alran, Hiaven, and Flareon were with her and looked at their one-time-ally.

"What do you want here?" Alran asked as he readied his pocket watch.

"Nothing really," Blade said casually as she raised her hands in a truce sign. This didn't stop Dracier, Jakomay, or Maple from readying their weapons. "I'm just here to deliver a message to my Lady's other half. Tell her that at midnight on the night of the full moon, Lady Mitsuko will leave Mystelle's body and be at the top of the temple. She expects Senka to follow suit and meet her there. If anyone else tries to interfere in the fight, then _I_ will ignite the holy flames and carry on the work Lady Mitsuko started. Now good day." She walked away, leaving the baffled group in her wake.

Acera, Staccato, Veil, and Reagan quickly ran up as Blade jumped away, wondering just what was going on.

* * *

"It's about time we get a plan." Staccato said as she found another chair to sit on after the situation was explained. She winced from the injure caused by Blade's Dragon of Dark Order. "Damn. Didn't know those Dragons hit so hard."

"So what's the plan?" Alran asked as he spun his pocket-watch around in boredom. "Go in, take down Blade and then Mitsuko?"

"No," said Senka as she walked up to the group. "I'll deal with Mitsuko… on my own. Any problems?" She looked at the others, stopping at Acera.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Nothing. Anyways, I'll have a body of my own, so Infernia can lend a hand against Blade. If she's been powered up by Mitsuko, you're going to need all the firepower you can get."

Veil nodded. "Sounds good, but we can't just go in guns blazing and all and expect to win. We need to position where people are going to be before we actually get there."

"This is starting to sound like a strategy game," Hiaven said as he cracked his neck. "So who goes where?"

"Well…" Staccato continued, "I'm still in no condition to fight, let alone stand for extended periods of time, so I'm out of the actual fighting. We also need a healer a good distance away so they can just focus on healing."

"Sounds like me," Reagan said. "I could also help snipe if anyone needs a hand."

"Whatever the situation is, I guess I could help try to figure out how to keep the light from being unleashed," Veil said. "I think I'll leave the fighting to the people with better weapons than daggers and combination locks."

"Alright, and I guess that leaves Alran, Acera, Hiaven, and Jakomay to do the actual fighting-" but another voice cut off Staccato off.

"I'll help too," Infernia said as Blade's left eye turned red again.

"Not in that outfit," Staccato said, gesturing towards the white robes that were a spitting image for Blade's. "Can't risk mistaking you for Blade, and we also have to figure out how to actually get her back to normal."

"I'll change the outfit," Infernia answered. "And I bet that the Dracostaff will get Blade back to normal, provided she's in her original body. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded and split up. They had nine hours before midnight, and some sleep and food sounded pretty good.

When Staccato looked back up, Senka was still standing there. "Thank you," Senka said to a confused Staccato.

"What?" She tried to stand up, but wasn't able to until Senka helped her up and offered support.

"You're letting me deal with Mitsuko on my own, and I thank you for that."

"You're the only one that can face her on even ground, as crazy as it seems," Staccato said, the memories of when the demon had possessed her re-emerging in her mind. "Just don't get any crazy ideas."

Senka looked up into the blue sky. _It's the last the on my mind right now_, Senka thought. _Sad but true. Sad but **very **true._

A/N: Next chapter, the battle begins as Mitsuko and Senka duke it out while the others contend against Super-Blade! But who will Senka base her body off of? What will Mitsuko's body look like? And can this story actually have a happy ending? Find out in the second-to-last chapter: Shining Darkness and Black Light.


	20. Shining Darkness and Black Light

A/N: The fights for the fate the world begin! Of course, that means this chapter is going to be a bit longer. I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

"Your soul's looking pretty damn black," Miki said as she continued sparring with Senka's mental form. She stepped away, ending the session. Learning to fight without needing someone's negative energies had finally purified Senka's soul of the corrupting white. "You've done a pretty good job getting rid of the impurities," she said as she walked away. "And with my training, you should be able to beat Mitsuko." She sat down, resting. "I'll be leaving in a few moments, and I suggest you get some sleep. I know it's just your mental form that's been training and you're not going to be fighting in Blade's body, but some sleep could be pretty helpful."

Senka looked around for Infernia. The Elementa was sleeping on a hammock, not worried at all about the fight coming up in just three hours. Senka then looked at her "teacher" and smiled. "Thanks…"

"What for?" Miki asked. She had a number of guesses about what Senka would be saying, but any one of them could be said and none of the others be mentioned.

"You trusted me…" Senka said as she generated a mirror and looked at her now pure-black soul. It was good to finally be the "Child of Darkness." "Something I'm sure no one else ever did probably. I guess you and Infernia, sort of made me how Mitsuko should be, you know, not going crazy and all." She chuckled as she walked up to Miki. "Looks like Infernia's not the only one that's been 'tamed'." She shook Miki's hand as the Darkinarki nodded.

"You kick that demon's ass, and you remember that a pure soul, no matter what color, is pure," Miki half-joked. "And remember that Mystelle needs Mitsuko just as much as she needs you. You've got right on your side, and I'm proud of you."

"You know…" Senka said as she cracked her own neck, "I'm probably never going to see you again after Blade heads back home and I thought of something to do for you, and eventually I did come up with it."

"What is it?" Miki asked. She was just wondering what the Child of Darkness was planing.

"I wish I could show you," Senka said as she started to laugh and shrugged, "but I can't. But Blade'll tell you if this all goes well."

Miki hugged her fellow dark being. "No. Not 'if'. 'When'." She walked away, and was gone.

"Yeah," Senka said. "'When.'"

* * *

When Rahn woke up, he realized he was bound and gagged in some sort of strange temple. To his side was Blade, who was busy praying to a gold altar. In front of him was Mitsuko, moaning and screaming as she writhed in agony.

"Lady Mitsuko!" Blade shouted as she realized Rahn had come to, "the prisoner is awake!"

"_Good!_" Mitsuko screamed in a voice almost not hers. "_Just a little more!"_ She screamed again as a yellow light flowed from Mystelle's body, forming a strange woman in front of her.

She was about as tall as Mystelle, with white hair about as long. Everything else was different. Her skin was pale in a beautiful way, and her eyes were yellow like they had been when she'd possessed Mystelle and Blade. She wore a magnificent white gown and in her hand was a long white knife.

"It's good to have a body of my own in my own image," Mitsuko said as she motioned towards Rahn. "Let him free."

"What?" Blade asked as she walked over to the man.

"I'm a demon of my word, Blade. He's free to go, provided he stays in the temple. Give him a room to care for Mystelle in. It's not like she's in a good condition."

"I'd die before help you!" Rahn shouted as Blade picked both him and Mystelle up.

"I know that," Mitsuko said as she looked him straight in the eye. "But you'll help me before Mystelle dies. You'll find everything to help her in the rooms Blade will take you to. And don't try anything stupid. I have no intention of killing you _or_ Mystelle. Either for reasons of self-preservation or for reasons that she loves you and I couldn't find it in myself to allow her to be unhappy."

"She's unhappy with all of this, you bitch!"

"You can't have everything you want, can you? Blade, take them away." She looked at the clock. She had another forty-five minutes before midnight. She should've set the fight time to an earlier time. _Life's Hell. What 'cha gonna do?

* * *

_

"How do you like it?" Infernia asked as she showed off her modified robes to Alran, Hiaven, Jakomay, Staccato, Reagan, Maple, Acera, and Veil. It was pretty much the same, except a red color similar to Blade's current eye color.

"Rather original," Acera said as she checked the time. "It's ten till midnight, can we go already?"

"If you insist…" Senka groaned as Blade's right eye turned black. She etched a circle in the ground around them and focused. _You can do this Senka. You're fighting for Darkness and… for everyone alive. Irony is something downright evil_. Her eyes snapped open wide as a fire flared up around the group, completely trapping them in an orb of black flames. When the flames died down, they were at the outskirts of the temple.

"Time to set up," Reagan said as she looked around for a clearing. Staccato would aid her in spotting any problem situations and also snipe if the need arose.

Hiaven slipped on his trusty Mana Blades, Jakomay and Acera readied their swords, Veil sharpened her knives and picked out a good combination lock, Maple readied her knife, and Alran spun his pocket-watch around. Then, Senka let out a muffled scream. It was time for her body, and she had the perfect one picked out.

As the group looked on a black stream flowed from Blade's body and formed a body that not one of them had ever seen before. Her long red hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore black pants and a sleeveless black top. When she turned around, everyone saw her black eyes. "Guess who," she said in Senka's voice.

"I don't get it!" Hiaven said. "Haven't seen anybody that looks like that at all!" Everybody else confirmed that fact until Infernia recovered from the tiring action.

"Nice body Senka…" Infernia said while smiling, "Miki'd be honored."

* * *

As Alran, Acera, Veil, Hiaven, Infernia, Jakomay, and Maple walked into the temple, they immediately saw Blade standing in their way. "I see that Senka's not among you." She cracked her knuckles. "Veil, Maple,go ahead and do what you're planning to do. Six on one is only slightly more unfair than seven."

"Don't you mean more fair?" Veil asked.

"No," Blade laughed as she shook her head. "Because I can still crush you all." Her white soul flared up as the two ran off to try to find Mystelle and Rahn.

Acera quickly jumped in to battle with Jakomay, swords swinging. This was war now, and they _had_ to get the Dracostaff back to save Blade. Unfortunately, Mitsuko was holding it at the moment, so they had to hold her off while Senka finished up her grudge match.

* * *

"Sister," Senka said as she levitated up to the top of the temple's spire, "so wonderful for you to keep your word about waiting!" The moon's light shone off their bodies as they looked at each other. Black versus White, aggressor vs. manipulator, and -in a way- a reluctant good vs. a naïve evil.

"Considering you actually decided to play by the rules almost breaks my heart-" Mitsuko started as she put the Dracostaff on her back.

"If you had one!" Senka shouted back.

Mitsuko laughed as her aura flared up as well. "As if you had one either? And what's this? The Child of Darkness actually fighting to save the world? A hopelessly corrupt being fighting for something ideological and selfless? What's this world coming to? Guess I'll _really_ have to purge it now."

Senka called upon her soul to power up as well. Miki's body had been a good choice, mainly because fighting against her had also taught her lots of Miki's fighting techniques, and there were countless. "What is the world coming to?" she returned, "when a being of Light decides they have to kill almost everyone alive, including children and innocents?"

"There ARE no innocents anymore! You're the testament to that, sister!" Mitsuko shot at her other half with lighting speed, thanking all those people she had gained power from, her fist raised to land a brutal punch… but Senka _caught_ the fist and kicked her in the gut.

"I've earned my power, Mitsuko. You just stole yours from others. Do you feel the hatred in the air? Because I don't. Guess that shows where I'm getting my power from!" Senka landed on the temple's ceiling as Mitsuko followed suit. Senka charged, using the moves she'd learned from Miki to stay head to head with the stronger Mitsuko. "Power isn't everything. _That's _what I'm a testament to now!" She switched her foot placement three times in quick succession to Mitsuko's bafflement, and on the forth switch, she kicked her other half's knee.

"Ghost steps…" Mitsuko muttered as she backed away. "Aren't we clever?" She dashed forward again, focusing on just on using her speed and strength to keep her advantage, knocking Senka back further and further.

Little did she know that as Mitsuko moved further and further forward, she ensured her doom.

* * *

"I think I've got a shot," Staccato said as she aimed at the Dracostaff on Mitsuko's back.

"Good!" Reagan said back as she fired another healing arrow at the others fighting Blade, "Because even with Infernia, those guys aren't exactly doing well."

_Just a few more seconds…_thought Staccato as she lined up her shot. She only had one chance, and if she blew it, it was likely that everybody that she cared about would die. _GOTCHA!_ The bullet fired, and for one magnificent moment, Mitsuko looked in horror as her staff -the reason she'd gotten this far in her scheme- fell down to the temple floor.

"Gotcha!" Alran said as he jumped back and grabbed the Dracostaff as he fell. He nodded and grinned in Staccato's direction and looked at Infernia who was Blade's current victim. "Yo! Infernia!"

Once again, there was one beautiful moment between when Infernia grabbed the staff, saw the fear in Blade's eyes,and plunged it into the Oracle's fake body. "Forgive me," Infernia said as she pulled Blade's consciousness into herself and one of the original body's eyes turned back to blue.

"Damn. It's good to be back. And sorry about trying to kill everyone," Blade said as she clutched her head. This relived everyone, and Veil and Maple were soon back with a woozy Mystelle and a less-than-pissed Rahn.

"They…told me everything…" Mystelle said as she looked up to the ceiling, where the battle between Light and Dark still raged. "Senka… I may hate you… but we need younow…"

A/N: The battle between Senka and Mitsuko is nearing its end, but who has the better move? Senka's Singularity Fist or Mitsuko's Solar Branding? And what happens when one of the groupmakes a decision that could kill those around her? Find out all this in the finale: Spiritual Reunions and the Returns Home.


	21. Spiritual Reunions and Returns Home

A/N: What originally started as a "Create-a-Character" topic on Gamefaqs has turned into a story that will be the first fanfic I'll ever finish! I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

Senka slid away from Mitsuko, breathing heavy. Even with all of Miki's training, her actual strength and speed were less than what Mitsuko had. At least her skill and soul augmented her powers enough to stay roughly even with her other half.

"Feeling the fatigue effect your bones?" Mitsuko said as she stood away, catching her breath as well. "Feeling the fear that in a few moments I'll strip you of your power and purify the worlds?"

"You're one to talk about weakening," Senka shot back as she once again assumed a fighting stance. "Now are we going to finish this or not?" She'd need to use something with enough power to knock Mitsuko out but not kill her. She tried to recall something Miki hadthat to use as Mitsuko also prepared to finish the battle as her hands glowed white.

"Solar Brandings, what'd you think of them?" Mitsuko said as she slashed down with her hands as Senka dodged. As strange sound emanated as the Child of Light's hand grazed Senka's left arm and Senka's arm burned with a strange pain. "It's designed to remove your strength, which I'm proud to say it is."

Senka glared as she clutched her left arm. It wasn't to bad an injury, it was just her arm felt numb. She had to think of something, however, or the Solar Branding would rip her to shreds. _Focus…Miki would know what to do here…_ she jumped back and dodged another of the attacks. _Miki said she gathered her soul from the void of space…and she had one move to use in desperation... never to use unless it was needed…_ Senka leapt over Mitsuko and kicked her in the back of the head._ What was it? It was like Void Fist or Black Hole Fist or…_ it came to her. The unlimited power of a black hole, focused into a single punch. She'd have to pull that blow, however, or Mitsuko would be killed. "SINGULARITY FIST!" Senka said as Mitsuko turned around, catching about one-fifth of the full force of the attack right in the gut.

"Was that what I thought it was?" Blade said as she and the others reached the rooftop, courtesy of Jakomay and Acera's wings. "MIKI!" she said as she saw Senka's body, "WHAT TH-!"

"No, it's Senka," Mystelle said as she quickly noticed Mitsuko writhing on the ground and ran over. She called over to Blade's staff and stabbed it into Mitsuko as what was left of the Child of Light's power was drained. Spending years with demons in her had taught her a thing or two about dealing with them. "You monster!" Mystelle said as she smashed Mitsuko's now powerless body. "All these years, you just waited for an opportunity like this, manipulating me, living off my positive emotions!"

"I was doing it for the good of the worlds!" Mitsuko growled back as she tried to stand up.

"Like hell you were!" Senka shot back. "I wasn't doing it for that reason, so why the hell should you be doing it for the same reason?"

"You disgust me," Mystelle said as she readied the Dracostaff. "And I'll be more than willing to seal you inside me… in a little bit."

* * *

"I don't get it," Mystelle said as she sat down with Senka. Mitsuko was safely unconscious and tied up, not to cause any problems any time soon. Mystelle'd never expected to be talking with the dark side of the demon and offering gratitude, but this whole situation was rather crazy. "Why'd you stay? Why'd you…fight? It's just so… not like you."

"If it makes you feel any better," Senka remarked, "I never expected to be saving the world. I also never expected to be having a less-than-hateful position towards you."

"Then…why?"

"It's because of that damned Assassin, the one whose body I copied. Miki's not like anyone I ever met, or probably ever will meet again. I found myself in a position that Mitsuko used to finally try to activate the Light's purity. I found myself… as an unlikely heroine. And the rest will be put down in the myths about how 'Senka, Child of Darkness, she who fed on the hatred in people's hearts and souls, rose to the occasion and defeated her sister and saved the world for all the good little boys and girls.'"

"Which you _did_ do," Rahn said as he walked in. "And I thank you as well for that. But if you don't go back into Mystelle before the next new moon, then she's dead anyways."

Senka raised her hands up in a mock surrender. "What? Like I'd teleport to the Temple of Dark Purity as we speak and do the opposite of what Mitsuko wanted?" Her hands fell to her sides. "I think I've learned how naïve that idea is by seeing what almost happened here. Now if you excuse me, I'd like to go home first, just so I'm ready to hold Mitsuko back when she goes back in as well."

Both Mystelle and Rahn nodded, thanking Martel just how much that demon had changed.

* * *

"So going home is going to be that easy?" Blade asked as she talked with Chan Yow, Acera, Staccato, and Veil. "Acera's sword just slashes through at a certain speed and it sends me home?"

"Yes," Chan said as the dragon nodded. "Since Ivory Noir was able to use the scythe-sword to enter the Underworld because it came from there…"

"…We're pretty sure just using the Dracostaff with the sword should open a portal back home for you, since the staff came from there too," Staccato finished up. Her injuries were finally starting to heal, and she couldn't wait to head out on the road again. She would head out with Veil to find other Weapons and turn them human, and Alran had offered to tag along. An experienced Weapon Hunter might be of aid.

"So what're you going to do?" Blade asked as she handed the Dracostaff over to Acera to use in conjunction with the half-elf's weapon. "Travel on your own?"

"Nah," Acera answered as she cut the portal open. "I'm going to travel with Hiaven and Jakomay. They're going to need somebody to cut open portals, since they're planning to be doing a _lot_ of fighting. Besides," she looked at her hands, "I want to try that Anti-Necro God Cannon thing out some more. See how well it works on Desians. Stuff like that."

"What about Reagan and Maple?" Blade wanted to know what the tree-lovers would be doing after all this too.

"Don't know," Veil said. "Probably try to find Taffy, since we lost him when Senka popped up that one time. Reagan wants to see the Hoheinerian Forests and help Maple get the forest back too, so I bet they're going to be paying their local congressmen a visit or two." Veil then noticed the other-dimensional Oracle had a look of worry on her face. "What's wrong?"

"It's just being both an Oracle and being a member of the Travelling Sword-Mages and everything," Blade said. "I'm… still not sure where my true loyalties lie. I'm an Oracle, and I feel that's where my priorities should be… but if I just hand the Sword-Mages over if one of them's the Champion of Chaos…they actually treat me like a worthwhile member of the group. If I do what I'm supposed to, I throw away the one time in my life I'm not some craptacular Oracle that's only special because of her staff and Dragon spell. If I don't, I abandon my duty and my oaths. At least I didn't do anything too terrible here." She turned around and started towards looked down, now feeling terrible that she had just revealed her duty to the Oracles.

A number of hands were placed on her shoulders, and her ten comrades were staring at her. "You'll do the right thing!" Mystelle said. "If it weren't for you, I'd still have two hostile demons in my head fighting for control. At least now I can trust one of them to try to pacify the other."

"If it weren't for you," Acera continued, "I wouldn't have learned a kick-ass attack!"

Alran was next. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found a Weapon that's more human than some other Hunters!"

"And I wouldn't have found a specific human to fight against with good cause!" Reagan finished as they all smiled towards her.

"You guys…" Blade said as a smile appeared on her face.

"Like I said before," Hiaven said as he shook her hand and looked her in the eye, "you're an incredible fighter and you're probably meant to be with the Sword-Mages anyways."

"You helped me see why I came here," Jakomay said, "And it's not like you're the only other-worldly person that dropped by, probably for a reason."

"And you helped me finally be what I'm supposed to be," Senka said as Mystelle's right eye turned black, "Among other stuff that'd I'd prefer not talking about…" Mystelle's eye turned normal again, and she once again thanked how different Senka was now.

"You're appearance here caused a terrible conflict, but what remains is downright magnificent," Rahn said. "Never forget what you did here Blade, because there is no way in Hell anyone else here is going to forget…even if you did try to kill us on two separate occasions here -but that's not your fault at either time, so it's not a problem."

"Thanks," Blade said as she shook hands with her comrades. "Still not sure what's going to happen back home…but I'm going to remember what I did and learned here…" Her left eye turned red. Infernia deserved a chance to say good-bye too. "It's been an honor fighting with you guys. And if you excuse me…I think I've got to go home now…" she turned away, tears of sadness that she might never see these people again mixing with tears of joy that she was going home.

Some of the girls started to cry as Blade headed towards the portal, but the Oracle stopped one last time. She turned around again, a smile on her face. "I'll get the other three Elementas… and I'm gonna come back some day. After all, I'm going to have four gods in my head! What's there to stop me from coming back if I have that!" She stepped through the portal, and she was gone.

* * *

The others stayed together for a while longer before splitting up. Rahn and Mystelle were going to start a life together, trusting that with every New Moon Senka would be there to keep Mitsuko under control. Reagan and Maple eventually did find Taffy and headed off to free to Hoheinerian Forests from human control.

Acera traveled with Hiaven and Jakomay for a while, but eventually headed off on her own. Or as alone as she could be with Chan Yow in tow.

Veil, Staccato, and Alran began searching for Weapons and keeping them from turning into demons, which made them into folk heroes.

As for Blade… that's a _long_ story for another time… like when I get it published…

A/N: And with that, I finally finish a fanfiction.


End file.
